"Safeguarding is everyone’s business. Everyone should be aware of their responsibility, in work and society".
What safeguarding adults is and why it matters
Safeguarding adults means protecting the rights of an adult with care and support needs to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.
This involves two important elements:
- Preventing abuse and neglect: Minimising opportunities for abuse and neglect should be a key priority for everyone who works adults with care and support needs. This includes minimising the risk for people who self-neglect.
- Ending abuse where ever possible. If someone is at risk or experiencing abuse then the multi-agency safeguarding adults policy and procedure should be followed to help and protect the person at risk.
Everyone who work with adults with care and support needs has a responsibility to both work to prevent abuse and neglect and to take actions within these policy and procedures to end abuse wherever possible. For some this will involve speaking up and raising concerns with their managers, others may have a direct role in managing enquiries or putting in place measures to safeguard an individual.
What are the multi-agency safeguarding adults policy and procedures?
These multi-agency safeguarding adults procedures provide the framework around which all organisation must work together, and with the person at risk, to support them to be safe. All practitioners and organisations have a responsibility to identify abuse, to act and to follow these procedures.
The local authority has a lead role. Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 states that where the local authority should undertake enquiries where it has reasonable cause to suspect that:
- a person has needs for care and support;
- is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
- as a result of their care and support needs, is unable to protect him or herself against the abuse or neglect, or the risk of it.
What are enquiries?
The purpose of an enquiry is to determine what, if any actions should be taken in the person's case and by whom. The local authority will either undertake these enquiries or they will cause another organisation to do them. Enquiries may take forms, but the objectives of an enquiry are set out in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance :
- Establish facts
- Ascertain the adult’s views and wishes
- Assess the needs of the adult for protection
- Support and redress and how they might be met
- Protect from the abuse and neglect, in accordance with the wishes of the adult
- Make decisions as to what follow-up action should be taken with regard to the person or organisation responsible for the abuse or neglect
- Enable the adult to achieve resolution and recovery
It will also be necessary to assess the risk to others, and to take actions that safeguard others who may also be at risk: “action may need to be taken if others are or will be put at risk if nothing is done or where it is in the public interest to take action because a criminal offence has occurred.”
Involvement of the person at risk
Safeguarding adults must be undertaken in a way that enables those at risk to make choices and have control about how they want to live. People need to be asked about what they want to achieve through the support being offered and be involved in decisions about their safety and wellbeing. They entitled representation by a family member or an independent advocate if this is needed to enable them to participate in the way they would like.
How does this all apply to me
Everyone has a moral responsibility to help and protect others from abuse and neglect. It will also be an important part of your job or volunteering role, especially if you that involves supporting, advising or helping people with care and support needs in some way.
You and your organisation will have different roles and responsibilities according to the nature of their services, but whatever your role you have responsibilities around both prevention and within the multi-agency safeguarding policy and procedures. These may include:
Prevention
- Maintaining safe environments
- Safe recruitment practices
- Care focused on peoples individual needs
- Supporting people you support to identify risks and abuse
- Promoting awareness of safeguarding
- Providing for safe spaces and opportunities for people to disclose concerns
Ending abuse
- Identifying signs that thing are not right
- Reporting concerns to your manager
- Reporting safeguarding concerns to the local authority
- Leading or assisting safeguarding enquiries
- Helping to put in place measures that support someone to be safe
Your next steps:
- Use the policies, procedures and guidance on this website to support your in your role.
- Access training on safeguarding adults from your organisation
- Familiarise yourself with your organisation's safeguarding procedures
- Find out who your safeguarding lead person is
- You may wish to test your knowledge, if so try out this Checklists produced by Ann Craft Trust: Checklist for individuals (Ann Craft Trust)
- You may wish to review your organisations arrangements, if so try out this Checklist produced by Ann Craft Trust or this self-assessment provided by the Leeds Safeguarding Adults Board and Safeguarding Children Partnership: Checklist for organisations (Ann Craft Trust); LSCP/LSAB Self-assessment (For Leeds based organisations)