Raising Adult Safeguarding concerns

There are many examples of abuse or neglect, the following list covers most items, but may not include everything. 

Abuse or neglect:

• can be a violation on individuals’ human or civil rights by another person or persons
• may consist of a single act or repeated acts
• can occur in any relationship or setting
• may result in harm to, or serious exploitation of, the person subjected to it
• physical, including hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, misuse of medication, restraint, or inappropriate sanctions
• sexual, including rape and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the person has not consented or was pressured into consenting to
• psychological, including emotional abuse, threats, humiliation, intimidation, verbal abuse
• financial or material, including theft, fraud, exploitation, the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits
• neglect, including ignoring medical or physical care needs, the withholding of adequate food, heat, clothing and medication
• discriminatory, including racist, sexist, based on a person’s disability, and other forms of similar treatment
• organisational abuse (sometimes referred to as institutional abuse) is neglect and poor care practice within an institution or care setting such as a hospital or care home and can include care provided in a person’s own home. This can range from a one-off incident to on-going ill-treatment, incidents between residents, and can occur as a result of neglect or poor professional practice because of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation

Who does it?

Sadly it can be anyone including ones nearest and dearest. Research by Action on elder abuse suggests that as many as one in 11 older people in the UK are mistreated or neglected by those they trust the most. Two thirds of these are abused by members of their own family. Care staff, too, can be abusers. There are many examples of this, including those where the abusers have deliberately chosen to work in environments where there will be adults at risk, such as those with learning disabilities.

Any types of abuse may be carried out as the result of deliberate actions, negligence or ignorance.

Where does it happen?

Abuse can happen anywhere – in a person’s home, in the street, in a residential or nursing home, at a day centre or resource centre, in a hospital or indeed any place where people might be.

What will be done?

The Care Act 2014 identifies that the local authority has the lead role in safeguarding adults at risk of harm from abuse and neglect.

If you report adult abuse, you will be asked for basic information about the person you are concerned about, and who is the alleged abuser. You will be asked about yourself, and what you heard or saw. Information will then be shared on a need-to-know basis, but you will be kept informed about who has to be told, for example, the police if a crime may have been committed.

Together all the relevant agencies will work with the person who may be being abused, to establish what has happened, and what action the person wants taking next. Work will also be done with the alleged abuser, and multi-disciplinary options will be created which will prevent, reduce, or stop further abuse from happening.