A third of the 1,100 complaints made to the parliamentary and health service ombudsman last year were about continuing care.
Valerie Harrison, director of investigations, told delegates at last week's Action on Elder Abuse conference that 380 of the complaints were about continuing care. She said 60 per cent of complaints involving older people were upheld.
The ombudsman Ann Abraham has written critical reports about people being denied continuing care and the system for compensating them.
The ombudsman is to release statistics about the complaints soon.