Safeguarding adults (Protection of vulnerable adults)

Safeguarding training for social care providers

New Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures

From the beginning of October 2011, Barnet Council and its partners will be using a new policy and set of procedures to make sure that adults at risk of abuse are kept safe.

The new policy is being used by Local Authorities across London, to make sure that everyone is protected in the same way and that organisations such as the police and NHS who work across London only have one set of procedures to follow. You can see the new Policy and Procedures on the Social Care Institute of Excellence website (external link).

Safeguarding

Safeguarding adults means making sure that adults at risk are protected from abuse. The information below explains what can mean that a person is at risk, what abuse is and who abuses. You can also read the easy read booklet Say 'no' to abuse (April 2010) Help on Downloading PDFs (PDF: 861KB) which explains about the different types of abuse and how to report them;

This information aims to help you recognise abuse and know what to do should you be concerned that an adult at risk that you know is being abused.

Say no to abuse video for British Sign Language users - YouTube (external link)

What is abuse?

Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by another person or persons. It may consist of a single act or repeated acts. It may be planned or unplanned. It may be the result of deliberate intent, negligence or ignorance. It may happen when an adult at risk is persuaded to enter into a transaction to which they have not consented or cannot consent.

Abuse can take many forms:

  • physical abuse - for example, hitting, pushing, shaking, over medicating or otherwise causing physical harm
  • sexual abuse - for example, unwanted touching, kissing or sexual activity. Or where the adult at risk cannot or does not give their consent
  • emotional abuse - including verbal abuse, humiliation, bullying or the use of threats.
  • financial abuse - the illegal or improper use of a person’s money, property, pension book, bank account or other belongings.
  • neglect - the repeated deprivation of help that an adult at risk needs which, if withdrawn, will cause them to suffer.
  • discriminatory abuse - including racist or sexist abuse, and abuse based on a person's disability, and other forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment. This is also known as hate crime.

Back to top

Where can abuse happen?

Abuse can take place in any setting:

  • in your own home
  • in someone else’s home (relatives or friend)
  • in a residential or nursing home
  • in a day centre, adult education centre or other establishment
  • in a hospital or GP surgery
  • at work
  • in a public place.

Who abuses?

The person responsible for the abuse is often well known to the adult being abused. They may be:

  • a relative, friend or neighbour
  • a paid or volunteer carer
  • a professional worker
  • another resident or service user
  • an occasional visitor or service provider.

Back to top

Examples of abuse

The following are some examples of abuse.  There are many different kinds of abuse and whether or not something is abuse will depend on the individual circumstances.

  • Brian has multiple health issues. His family cannot provide adequate care to meet his needs but are keeping him at home because paying rest home fees would erode his assets, their inheritance
  • Lewis' 70-year-old grandmother Molly has been giving him the odd bit of cash to help him out of a jam. Today she doesn't have enough to spare. He pushes her, twists her arm and forcibly takes her handbag to get at her purse.
  • Bila became depressed after becoming a widow at the age of 49. She was befriended by her neighbour Sharon. Bila had always been taken care of by others and ignorant about how to buy food, pay bills, maintain her home or operate the heating. She hated being alone and although her friends warned her about Sharon, she was lonely, grief stricken and vulnerable. Sharon took care of things for her - her shopping, her bills. After a while Bila agreed to let Sharon move in with her and was persuaded to sign over ownership of her house to her. By the time Bila realised she was being taken advantage of, her 'friend' had defrauded her of nearly everything she owned.
  • Sene lives with her Dad and takes great pride in being able to look after him. She answers the phone, monitors his calls, controls who he sees and where he goes. She says 'But Dad you don't need anyone else, you've got me. I'll always look after you, I love you, you know that.'
  • Don had most of his teeth removed when he was 21 - it's what they did in those days! Now at 75 he finds himself unable to afford new dentures because his grandson spends most of his pension every week when he does Don's shopping for him. He is now living on soft food so that he can eat without teeth.
  • While Emily was in hospital, her daughter Karen removed a silver tea service, some valuable books and an old carriage clock to her own home. When Emily got home she thought she had been burgled and called the Police. Investigating the burglary the Police discover that Karen has removed the goods for 'safe keeping'. 'These are heirlooms, they don't just belong to Mum, they belong to the whole family.'

Who is an adult at risk?

An adult at risk is any person aged 18 or over who is or may be in need of community care services because of disability, age or illness, and who:

  • is or may be unable to take care of themselves or
  • is unable to protect themselves from significant harm or exploitation.

Adults at risk could include:

In some cases, adults at risk may lack the capacity to make certain decisions for themselves. The Mental Capacity Act helps to protect people at risk where this is the case and makes clear who can make decisions, in which circumstances and how they should go about doing this.

From 1 April 2009 the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, which have been introduced into the Mental Capacity Act through the Mental Health Act 2007, have been in place. These safeguards are to protect people who have a mental health problem, learning disability or lack the capacity to give consent to arrangements made for their care from being unnecessarily deprived of their liberty.

Back to top

What should you do?

If you, or another adult at risk you know is being harmed in any way by another person, please do not ignore it. You should contact Social Care Direct on:

  • Tel: 020 8359 5000
  • Textphone: 020 8359 6011
  • Text: 07506 693707 (SMS).

Or contact the police or call an ambulance (999) if the person is in immediate danger, or needs medical treatment.

What should you not do?

  • do not confront the person you think is responsible for the abuse
  • do not destroy the evidence
  • do not start to investigate the situation.

Back to top

What will happen next?

What happens next will depend on the wishes of the person and the seriousness of the situation. If they are in physical danger, ensuring their safety will be most important.

In response to your referral, trained staff will carry out a careful and sensitive enquiry. Information and advice will be offered so that the person and their family can make an informed choice, care will be taken to support and protect them.

Publications

Safeguarding Adults Board

The Safeguarding Adults Board is a Multi-Agency board which has been established to improve safeguarding (protection) practices for vulnerable adults in Barnet.

The Independent Safeguarding Authority

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (external link), via the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), has helped prevent unsuitable people undertaking paid or voluntary work with children or adults at risk since Oct 2009.  The Independent Safeguarding Authority is an independent decision making body deciding who to bar and maintaining those barred lists.  

In February 2011 the Coalition Government published the findings of its Review into the Vetting and Barring Scheme. The key recommendations are:

  • to merge the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to form a streamlined, proportionate barring and criminal records checking service;
  • to end the proposed requirement for all those working or volunteering with vulnerable groups to register with the VBS;
  • to reduce the number of positions requiring checks to just those working most closely and regularly with children and vulnerable adults;
  • for CRB checks to be portable between jobs to cut down on needless bureaucracy;
  • to stop employers knowingly requesting criminal records checks on individuals who are not entitled to them.
  • Read the report on the Home Office website (external link).

The Coalition Government has confirmed that until all the new arrangements are established the safeguarding regulations introduced in October 2009 continue to apply.  The current safeguarding responsibilities of employers and the ISA are:

  • A person who is barred from working with children or adults at risk will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer, or try to work or volunteer with those groups.
  • An organisation which knowingly employs someone who is barred to work with those groups will also be breaking the law.
  • If an employer dismisses or removes a member of staff or a volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you would have done so if they had not left, you must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

The ISA continues to make legally binding decisions about who is barred and failure to comply with these decisions could result in both the employer, and the employee or volunteer, being prosecuted or going to prison.  

Further information about when and how to make a referral to the ISA can be found on the ISA website (external link).

For further information about the Vetting and Barring Scheme please telephone the VBS contact centre on 0300 123 1111.

For updates on the implementation of the new arrangements you can register at www.isa-gov.org

Link

Other useful documents and links

Comments, Compliments and Complaints

Adult Social Care and Health home page

Back to top







email icon Email this pageLast modified by: Neha Shah on 25/10/2011


Contact

Adult Social Care and Health
North London Business Park (NLBP)
Oakleigh Road South
London
N11 1NP
Phone Number
020 8359 5000
Text Number (SMS)
020 8359 6011
Fax Number
020 8359 4156
Typetalk
18001 020 8359 2040
Email
socialcaredirect@barnet.gov.uk