The Adult Safeguarding Risk Assessment tool is designed to assist practitioners in considering:
- the vulnerability of the adult at risk and the seriousness of the abuse that is occuring; and
- the impact of the abuse and the risk of it recurring.
It is not designed to determine further actions, but rather to provide guidance and key considerations for practitioners who are assessing and managing risk. Practitioners should always seek advice from agency Safeguarding Leads when unsure what action should be taken in relation to concerns they may have.
Safeguarding procedures should be used to not only react to significant harm occuring, but also to prevent it from occuring where there are clear indicators of vulnerability and risk. Careful assessment of past information may indicate that although significant harm has not occured on this occasion, it is highly likely to in the future. Therefore, a multi-agency response following safeguarding procedures is the best course of action.
This service monitoring checklist sets out examples of potential indicators for concern within provider settings.
The areas of care listed may highlight that care is neglectful and could be harmful to residents.
This guidance outlines what county lines (and associated criminal exploitation) is, signs to look for in potential victims, and what to do about it.
Key messages
- The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 applies to everyone involved in the care, treatment and support of people aged 16 and over living in England and Wales who are unable to make all or some decisions for themselves
- The MCA is designed to protect and restore power to those vulnerable people who lack capacity
- The MCA also supports those who have capacity and choose to plan for their future – this is everyone in the general population who is over the age of 18
- All professionals have a duty to comply with the Code of Practice. It also provides support and guidance for less formal carers
- The Act’s five statutory principles are the benchmark and must underpin all acts carried out and decisions taken in relation to the Act
- Anyone caring for or supporting a person who may lack capacity should be involved in assessing capacity – follow the two-stage test
- The MCA is designed to empower those in health and social care to assess capacity themselves rather than rely on expert testing – good professional training is key
- If capacity is lacking, following the checklist described in the Code to work out the best interests of the individual concerns
- Understanding and using the MCA supports practice.
Key messages
- The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They apply in England and Wales only.
- The Mental Capacity Act allows restraint and restrictions to be used – but only if they are in a person’s best interests.
- Extra safeguards are needed if the restrictions and restraint used will deprive a person of their liberty. These are called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
- The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards can only be used if the person will be deprived of their liberty in a care home or hospital. In other settings the Court of Protection can authorise a deprivation of liberty.
- Care homes or hospitals must ask a local authority if they can deprive a person of their liberty. This is called requesting a standard authorisation.
- There are six assessments which have to take place before a standard authorisation can be given.
- If a standard authorisation is given, one key safeguard is that the person has someone appointed with legal powers to represent them. This is called the relevant person’s representative and will usually be a family member or friend.
- Other safeguards include rights to challenge authorisations in the Court of Protection, and access to Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs).
A MARAC is a meeting where information is shared on the highest risk domestic abuse cases between representatives of local police, probation, health, child protection, housing practitioners, Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and other specialists from statutory and voluntary sectors.
After sharing all relevant information they have about a victim, representatives discuss options for increasing the safety of the victim and turn these into a co-ordinated action plan.
The primary focus of the MARAC is to safeguard the adult victim. The MARAC will also make links with others to safeguard children and manage the behaviour of the perpetrator.
The victim does not attend the meeting but is represented by an IDVA who speaks on their behalf.
This document explains the need to share information to support the functions of the Safeguarding Adults Board in Somerset and includes a useful flow chart of when and how to share information
The checklist below lists the type of information to think about at the initial stage of responding to a safeguarding concern: