THE "shocking" case of a Blaenavon care home investigated as part of the Operation Jasmine police investigation into alleged neglect and abuse at such facilities, has been raised in the Senedd by Torfaen AM Lynne Neagle.

In a debate on the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill, Ms Neagle described a tribunal report into The Beeches care home as one of the “most upsetting documents” she has ever had to read in her time as an AM.

The Bill is intended to improve the quality of care and support received in Wales by those who require it, by reforming the legal framework for regulating and inspecting social care services and the social care workforce.

Some of its provisions pre-empt and acknowledge concerns raised this week by the Flynn Report, the findings of a review of neglect of older people living in care homes, which was investigated as Operation Jasmine.

In the debate, Ms Neagle described the “shocking situation” at The Beeches, which was owned by Puretruce Health Care Limited, the owner of which Dr Prana Das, was investigated during Operation Jasmine.

Charges against him, the company, and its chief executive Paul Black were dropped in 2012 after Dr Das sustained serious brain injuries in an attack during a burglary at his home - but in her report published on Tuesday, renowned care expert Dr Margaret Flynn concluded that he could and should have been prosecuted.

“I really welcome the fact that the Minister is seeking to finally tackle this issue head on,” said Ms Neagle of the Bill's provisions.

But she is urging health minister Mark Drakeford consider again the use of lay assessors, an issue she believes is central to a new regulation and inspection regime.

“There is a wealth of evidence that suggests extending the use of lay inspectors could be hugely beneficial and that they should be integral to the new approach to regulation and inspection that this legislation seeks to establish,” she said.

The Beeches was one of the six care homes in Gwent investigated during Operation Jasmine.

Dr Flynn's report highlights a catalogue of concerns about the home, its management, and the care it provided, raised by residents' families, care standards bodies, organisations such as the Health and Safety Executive, South Wales Fire and Rescue, and energy companies over a period of more than four years until its registration was cancelled and it closed in 2006.

These included concerns over the abuse and neglect of residents, failures in care relating to issues such as inadequate toileting and the administration of medicines, lack of staff cover, and a persistent failure to meet thousands of pounds of unpaid energy bills.