Care homes are banning relatives who complain about the quality of care their family members receive, it has emerged.

Hundreds of families are thought to have been affected and, in the worst cases, elderly residents have been told they must leave their homes. A former care worker also claimed she had heard of some relatives being arrested.

In one case, a family only had to lodge a single formal complaint about poor care before they were stopped from visiting and told they must find somewhere else for their mother to go.

The two siblings claimed their mother was evicted from her care home in Essex because they complained staff failed to treat an injury properly and moved an aggressive resident to the same area as her.

In another case, a son was stopped from seeing his father after he raised concerns about his hearing aid not being switched on or cleaned properly, the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme found.

Paul Doolan told the BBC he was stopped from visiting his father Terry at his nursing home in Somerset after he kept a log of issues and complained that his father's hearing aid batteries kept running out. He was forced to instead meet his father at a local Conservative club while a chaperone was also present.

Describing the situation as "deeply upsetting, he said: "The care home fees were fairly hefty, and I thought it was the least they could do to make sure he could hear properly and give him some fresh air and take him to the doctors."

Mr Doolan said he was told he had to stop visiting his father in August 2012 via email, with the home claiming he had behaved in an unacceptable way towards staff. He denies this claim.

A spokesman for the home told BBC it had followed "all regulations set by the Care Quality Commission and all guidelines set by our local authority".

One solicitor told the BBC families have to "obey" the homes as they lay out the contract. Jemma Garside, a solicitor at Duncan Lewis, said: "You have a contract with the care home, the resident and public body if they are funding it; the care home sets the terms and the conditions and you have to obey them."

Former care worker Eileen Chubb, who campaigns for better regulation in the industry, said she hears from up to 60 families a year who face the same problem.

Gary FitzGerald, the chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse, said: "That older people and their families worry that they will be asked to leave their care home if they make a complaint is evidence of just how many older people are living in a culture of fear – fear that their rights and dignity will be eroded and that they will have no recourse to justice.

"And unfortunately, these fears are not unfounded. It has been too easy to brand those who make complaints as troublemakers or as a danger to other residents and issue eviction notices. Home should be a sanctuary, but for some of those living in residential care, it has been anything but."

Prof Martin Green, the chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care services, said it would be useful if there was a mechanism to keep track of such incidents.

He added: "There may be times residents' conditions change and that nursing home isn't the appropriate place to give that person the right care."

The Care Quality Commission on Wednesday published guidance on visitation rights.

Andrea Sutcliffe, the chief inspector of adult social care, said: "Care homes are people's homes. They, their family and friends should not live in fear of being penalised for raising concerns.

"Good providers know this and we see plenty of excellent practice where managers and staff respond to complaints positively and make sure it is as easy as possible for people to visit their loved ones in a welcoming, friendly environment.

"But we know this is not always everyone's experience, with reports of visiting restrictions and people being forced to leave against their wishes. We also know that too many people are frightened to raise concerns because they think this is going to happen."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/