Safeguarding and Helping Hands
Aims of adult safeguarding
At Helping Hands, we ensure that all our staff take responsibility for safeguarding our customers.
The Care Act statutory guidance defines adult safeguarding as: Protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances.
Defining what safeguarding is
The statutory guidance describes safeguarding as 'protecting an adult's right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect'.
Abuse can take many different forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, financial exploitation, psychological abuse or coercive control.
Neglect may result from a deliberate decision not to provide appropriate care, an unintentional outcome of poor care or reckless actions.
Safeguarding and other duties under the Care Act
Safeguarding duties must be carried out alongside other duties of the Care Act.
This includes the duty to promote individual wellbeing, to prevent or reduce the likelihood of further care and support needs developing, and to provide good information and advice.
The aims of adult safeguarding
The aims of safeguarding under the Care Act are both reactive and proactive as follows:
To prevent harm and reduce the risk of abuse or neglect to adults with care and support needs
To stop abuse or neglect wherever possible
To safeguard adults in a way that supports them to make choices and have control about the way they want to live.
To promote an approach that concentrates on improving life for the adult(s) concerned.
To raise public awareness so that communities, alongside professionals, play their part in preventing, identifying and responding to abuse and neglect.
To provide information and support in accessible ways to help people understand the different types of abuse, how to stay safe and well and what to do to raise a concern about the safety or wellbeing of themselves or another adult; and
To address what has caused the abuse or neglect.
The statutory guidance outlines several steps the Local Authority should take to achieve the aims. They should:
Ensure that everyone that works with adults who have care and support needs (either directly or indirectly) is clear about their safeguarding role and responsibilities.
Create strong multi-agency partnerships that can provide effective and timely responses to abuse, and also work effectively and proactively to prevent abuse and neglect from occurring.
Support a positive learning development environment across all agencies involved, so they can break down risk-adverse cultures that seek to scapegoat or blame practitioners.
Enable access to mainstream community resources that can reduce social and physical isolation (two factors known to contribute to the risk of abuse and neglect).
Have a clear response to concerns that are raised about poor quality or inadequacy of service provision.
Principles of all adult safeguarding
The six key principles that should underpin all adult safeguarding work.
The Care Act statutory guidance defines six principles that should underpin all safeguarding functions, actions and decisions. Each principle is accompanied by its own ‘I’ statement, clearly explaining what the principle would feel like in action to an adult affected by safeguarding. Often, the principles are referred to solely as ‘I’ statements.
