The Care Act (2014) sets out a clear legal framework for how we should protect adults at risk of abuse or neglect.
Local Authorities must “lead a multi-agency local adult safeguarding system” that seeks to prevent abuse and neglect and stop it quickly when it happens, but with the person at risk consenting to the interventions and at the centre of it.
- The law says that the Local Authority must “make enquiries, or request others to make them”, when an adult with care and support needs is or may be at risk of abuse or neglect.
Section 14.2 of The Care Act Guidance states that safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
- has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs)
- is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect
- as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect
Section 14.4 of The Care Act Guidance states that interventions must adhere to Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) principles.
“We all have different preferences, histories, circumstances and life-styles, so it is unhelpful to prescribe a process that must be followed whenever a concern is raised”.
MSP, underpinned the move away from process-led, target focused safeguarding interventions to a more person-centred approach and to achieve the desired outcomes of the adult, (outcomes that were checked and could change throughout the intervention).
The process should be secondary to the quality of the intervention and should be flexible and work at the adult’s pace. Key performance indicators for adult safeguarding were removed as The Care Act (2014) was implemented and made way for MSP.
Emphasised in the Care Act 2014, 'person-centred safeguarding' is a cornerstone of the modern approach to adult safeguarding.
Click on the following link from the Social Care Institute of Excellence https://www.scie.org.uk/prevention/choice/person-centred-care for examples of good practice in relation to person-centred safeguarding.
Below are audio-visual resources to raise awareness of abuse and neglect of adults with care and support needs. The resources have been shared by organisations and are accessible via the relevant weblink.
SCIE Resources for managers, commissioners, front line practitioners, people who use services and carers about social care support for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex or hold identities such as non binary,
www.realsafeguardingstories.com developed by Bradford Safeguarding Adults board, the link takes you to a series of videos exploring different aspects of safeguarding.
Cycles’ a film made by Toynbee Hall using professional actors and a script based on real stories. For use as a safeguarding tool, Cycles lasts for 21minutes and is a useful platform for professionals and people with mental health support needs to recognise the signs of protecting themselves and speaking up.
SEE SOMETHING DO SOMETHING developed by Sandwell Metropolitan council the resource is animated lasting 3.21 mins and addresses both children and adult (Think Family) safeguarding.