What will happen if I report something?

Your concerns will always be taken seriously

The person you have told, whether that is a Police officer, nurse, care worker or someone else will ensure that all of the information is put on a Safeguarding Adults Concern and Notification form.  A social care manager will then decide whether a full safeguarding investigation is needed or whether there are other services which may be better placed to help resolve the problem.

Sharing your information with other professionals

If the social work manager decides to use the safeguarding process, information may have to be shared with other parties, including the Police, if this is considered necessary to protect you or another person from harm

• You will be told if information needs to be shared
• you will be asked at each stage of the process what you want to happen.

If it looks as though a crime has been committed, specialist Police officers may need to make enquiries.  The Police will never take any steps which will make matters worse for you.

Sometimes, even though the matter appears very serious, the Police may not be able to treat it as a crime as their threshold for an action to be a crime is laid out in law.  But the matter may still be serious enough to need looking into, in which case a social worker will take the lead in investigating the concerns raised and assessing the level of risk.  This may involve gathering information from other people who know and care fo you such as health workers and carers.