Homes for the elderly account for most of the complaints upheld by the care sector watchdog, it was revealed yesterday.
The Care Commission investigated 792 complaints against old people's residential homes between 2005 and 2006 and upheld 76% of them in whole or in part.
And care homes for the elderly accounted for 57% of all the complaints upheld by the commission that year, it said.
The private sector had the most complaints, with 37% of privately-run elderly care home services having a complaint against them upheld, compared to 11% of council-run services and 8% in the voluntary sector.
But this could be because councils have their own well-established complaints procedures, resulting in fewer complaints going to the Care Commission, it was claimed.
The findings came in the annual quality review of the commission, which considers evidence from the first four years of its existence to provide what is claimed to be the first comprehensive picture of care in Scotland.
Care homes for the elderly and services providing residential care for children are areas giving concern, while childminders and daycare services for children are commended.
"In adult services, care homes for older people give us the most significant cause for concern and we have noted there is considerable room for improvement in care homes for people with learning disabilities", said the report.
General health and welfare matters were the most common grounds for complaint.
Meanwhile, the percentage of care homes for children and young people which had complaints against them upheld in whole or in part rose from 4% in 2004-05 to 6.6% in 2005-06.
Jacquie Roberts, chief executive of the Care Commission, said: "For the most part the findings are positive and we have discovered there are thousands of services offering a very high quality of care for service users."
A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "The report highlights more work needs to be done by care service providers."
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