Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults: Policies and Practices

Introduction

Safeguarding and protection to the vulnerable adults are associated with providing useful support and facilitate the protective environment in order to minimise the risk of different types of abuse and harm to the vulnerable adults. Under the Care Act 2014, safeguarding and protection to the vulnerable adults is the process in which the vulnerable people are provided with the well-protected environment in order to safeguard the, from physical, psychological, emotional and behavioural abuse. This assignment is going to discuss the safeguarding policies and procedures along with the process proper implementation of these policies in order to protect vulnerable people. Moreover, thus assignment will also describe the process of partnership working, review and monitoring of this partnership process and the challenges that the practitioners can experience in order to safeguard vulnerable adults.

1.1 Analyse the differences between the concept of safeguarding and the concept of protection in relation to vulnerable adults:

Based on the definition in Children Act 1998 and the report of Arrangement to safeguard Children 2002, safeguarding is the process in which the organisational and agencies work together in order to take all the important measures in terms of minimising as well as eliminating the risk of harm to the vulnerable young people and children (NHS, 2018). In order to safeguard the vulnerable adults, organisation and agencies follow and implement the import childcare and safeguarding policies in order to ensure that the vulnerable adults are provided with all the possible measures in order to protect them from any abuse or harm. As stated by White et al. (2015), safeguarding practices are generally applied to the young and children under the age of 18. On the other hand, vulnerable adults are the individuals with age 18 or over, having the physical, or psychological disabilities which make them unable to perform their regular activities in order to meet their basic needs (Norrie et al. 2016). Department of Health has set the regulations in favour of protecting the vulnerable adults, with providing them proper community care service in terms of reducing any kind of abuse, assault or harm. People with physical and mental disability are vulnerable to different types of assault and abuse such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse and sexual abuse. Protection to the vulnerable adults is the process in which vulnerable adults are provided with the better care and support in order to cope with their previous tormented experience and minimise the further chances of abuse and assault to them. On the contrary Manthorpe et al. (2015) argued that safeguarding can be considered as the important part of the integrated working process, in which the entire community is involved in order to keep the individual safe and protected from any kind of harm. protection can be considered as the central part of safeguarding that is associated with identifying the holistic needs of vulnerable people in order to improve their lives.

1.2 Evaluate the impact of policy developments on approaches to safeguarding vulnerable adults in your own service setting by completing the table:

1.3 Explain the legislative framework for safeguarding vulnerable adults:

Care and safeguarding system in the UK is governed and regulated nu the relevant legislation. Different legislations are there in the health and social care in order to protect the rights of vulnerable adults and protect them from any kind of abuse and assault. Under Care Standard Act 2000, care providers would be highly professions and skilled in order to investigate the chances of abuse and harm to vulnerable adults (NHS, 2018). Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA), is the Independent Safeguarding Authority scheme of UK government (Department of health), in order to set the possible safeguarding arrangements in the local and national health and social care context in order to protect vulnerable people from physical, mental and emotional abuse. Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Group Act 2004 was implemented in 2009 into practice by Department of Health UK, in order to protect the rights of vulnerable people who suffer from mental and physical disabilities. Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), has set local and national safeguarding arrangements under this act, in order to assist the vulnerable adults to be assisted by the high skilled care managers and volunteer in order to meet their health needs and protecting their rights (Low et al. 2015). Under the Mental Health Act 1983, health and social care providers would facilitative the bias less and safeguarding facilities to the people with a mental disability, in order to protect them from physical, mental and emotional abuse. on the other hand, NHS Community Care Act, developed by Department of Health UK, emphasizes on increasing the level of efficiency of NHS staffs in order to identify the risk of op\harm towards the vulnerable adults and set the relevant protective policies in order to protect them from these harms (NHS, 2018). Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, all the people with a mental and physical disability would be treated with proper respect and dignity in order to protect them any kind of discrimination, bias and abuse. Equal care and support would be provided to vulnerable adults in order to maintain the discrimination-free protective environment.

1.4 Evaluate how serious case reviews or inquiries have influenced quality assurance, regulation and inspection relating to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults

The main purpose behind any case review is to provide proper protection to vulnerable adults, by learning from the individual cases. Serious Case Review (SCR) is conducted by the British Adult Protection and safeguarding Board, in order to inquire the level; of abuse, harm and death in each case. Through reviewing and analysing the previous cases of abuse and harm, the volunteer and care manager makes the effective recommendation that are aimed to prevent a similar tragedy by improving the multiagency procedures and arrangements. As stated by Norrie et al. (2016), in UK SCR is developed in order to conduct the proper statutory psychological health inquiry which deals with cases of suicides and homicides, non-accidental child deaths, and serious injuries. In order to facilitate better safety and security to people who are vulnerable to harm, professional learn retrospectively from each mistake and a serious incident. In order to conduct better SCR, professionals follow the below mentions process:

To inform the risk of harm and incident to higher officials and governmental bodies To improve the local interagency practice in order to set proper safeguarding arrangements To prepare the commission in order to overview the report from safeguarding agencies in terms of developing a useful recommendation for better future action

1.5 Explain the protocols and referral procedures when harm or abuse is alleged or suspected

After suspecting the abuse professional or volunteer would deal with the immediate needs in order to ensure the victim that proper arrangement and policies would set for protecting the individuals (Mackay, 2017). After sending the abuse, the professional would immediately report the abuse to an appropriate people such as care manager or line manager. If any crime had been committed there, then professional should immediately call the police to investigate the matter. In order to make the proper solution and investigation of the abuse and harm, the line manager would report the harm and abuse to the local authority and health and social care trusts in order to make the proper legal response to protect the adult from the risk. Referral, in order to safeguard the adults, can be taken from any staffs or volunteer who has sensed or concerned about a vulnerable adult is at the risk (Lee et al. 2017). In this aspect, the relevant local referral process is conducted such as making telephone calls, check the local authority and health and social care trust websites and details. Staffs should collect detailed from the referral about the allegation of abuse and harm in order to have all possible facts of the circumstances ready at their hands. The protocol and procedure in order to report the abuse are set based on the following standard:

Standard 6:: After sensing the risk or abuse and incident of abuse with the adult, the professional should immediately report this abuse to higher officials and local health care authority (NHS, 2019)

Standard 7: The information of abuse would be shared among the multiple health and social care trusts and agencies (NICE, 2019).

Standard 8: staffs would follow proper res\porting and reviewing process such as timely call the police and higher official and communicating with local governmental staffs in order to report the abuse. Moreover, the whistleblowers would be provided with proper protection and care in order to maintain their respect and dignity.

Standard 9: make a checklist and put all process of reviewing and reporting system in order to ensure that, the abuse will not happen furthest in the organisation.

2.1 Describe how you promote a service provider that supports vulnerable adults to assess risks and make informed choices:

Different service provisions are conducted by Department of Health UK, in order to safeguard vulnerable adults in order to assess their risks and assist them to make the informed choices. Under the Care Act 2014, health and social care staffs and professional would focus on promoting the mental and physical health and wellbeing of vulnerable people (NICE, 2019). As stead by Lee et al. (2017), under this act, professionals would treat vulnerable people with proper respect and dignity. Under the national provision of Sexual Offences Act 2003, care professionals would defy whether the vulnerable adult has been sexually harassed in the past or recent times. Under Section 34 of this act, professional needs to ensure that vulnerable people would be free from any kind of sexual assault and molestations. On the other hand, safeguarding Vulnerable Group Act, 2006 set the provision in order to assist professionals to identify the vulnerable adults who are prevalent to the risk of abuse and harm. Moreover, the professional would asses the individual needs of each venerable people in order to promote their health and wellbeing. Based on the Disclosure and Barring Service, that is developed by Department of Health, UK, care authority would prevent the irrelevant and unsuitable person from safeguarding work in order to maintain the transparent and quality of the safeguarding and protection protocol.

2.2 Describe how you provided information to others on:

Indicators of abuse:

Professions and volunteers can sense and determine the abuse through examining the physical and psychological health, behaviour, facial expression and attitude of the vulnerable people (Mackay, 2017). in case of sexual abuse genital injuries, sleep disturbances, compulsive obsessive washing and inappropriate sexual behaviour can be the potential indicators. In case of physical abuse, bruises in unexpected places such as the face, ears and back, ligature and bite marks, suspicious burns and injuries can be considered as the sign of abuse. In case of emotional and mental abuse, professions need to follow that whether there are any behavioural and activity changes in the individuals. If the vulnerable individual behaves oddly or unexpectedly, it can be due to mental and psychological abuse.

Measures that are taken to avoid abuse:

Professionals need to check the monitor and review the activities and behaviour of vulnerable adults in order to ensure that they do nor behaviour in an odd manner (Szilassy et al. 2017). Regular health check-up of vulnerable people is important in order to ensure that individuals do not face any kind of abuse. Through providing a highly protective environment to each individual with 24 hours CCTV camera, recording facilities, care staffs and volunteers and safety switches, care professions can assure that there are zero changes of any abuse or harm to eh vulnerable adults.

Steps that are taken in case of alleged or suspected abuse

After suspecting any abuse, the care professionals need to immediately report the abuse to the line manager. The line manager now communicates with the higher official about the abuse and informs this to the local social and health care trusts and authority (Hood et al. 2016). In any crime is committed and then the care professionals would call the police immediately. After reporting the abuse, the care managers would maintain and store the records of referrals and documents that act as the potential proof for the allegation of abuse in their hand for future use.

2.3 What are the policies and procedures in your own work setting that contribute towards safeguarding and the prevention of abuse:

Being a care assistant, I use to focus on implementing the safeguarding policies in order to prevent the chances of abuse and harm to vulnerable adults. First of all, I focus on identifying people who suffer from mental and physical disabilities and need special care. I try to assess the individual needs of each vulnerable people in order to provide them with the proper protection from the risk of harm. After sensing the harm or abuse I make the immediate response tit eh abuse and harm by reporting this to the higher officials. Moreover, I also focus on setting the relevant and consensual approaches in order to provide the best care and support to vulnerable people in order to promote their physical and mental health. Moreover, I use to maintain the transparency in order to share information regarding the health and wellbeing of vulnerable adults to the higher officials.

2.4 Describe how you monitor the implementation of policies and procedures that aim to safeguard vulnerable adults and prevent abuse from occurring:

As stated by Hood et al. (2016), in order to assess the usefulness of the safeguarding policies in terms of determining the health and wellbeing vulnerable people, the monitoring process is important. In health and social care, context, care professional can monitor the implementation of policies and procedures by conducting different processes. Regular communication with the vulnerable individuals and the staffs is important for the organisation to get proper information regarding day-to-day policies and procedures. Through conducting feedback process, care professionals can gather proper information about the fact that whether the care staffs are able to implement all the safeguarding policies into practice. Moreover, through setting the online surveillance system such as CCTV camera, professional and managers can monitor the day-to-day operations of staffs in order to make proper compliance with each safeguarding policies.

2.5 Describe how you provided feedback to others on practice that supports the protection of vulnerable adults:

Through conducting feedback system in safeguarding process, care professional can allow the vulnerable people to share their views regarding the effetiveness of care process that is undertaken for them. In the feedback process, it is possible for the managers and higher health and social care officials to know the staffs' attitude and behaviour with vulnerable people throughout the care process (Graham et al. 2016). Moreover, the feedback process also assists the care professionals to determine eh changes that they need to perform in the existing policies and procedures in order to provide better care and protection to the adults.

3.1 Describe how the following protocol in partnership working with the other organisation protect vulnerable adults

Agreed protocols:

• Boundaries:

In order to promote partnership working in safeguarding process, care professionals need to be clear about their responsibilities and boundaries. Care professional cannot force or pressurised the vulnerable people to share their viewpoint about any subject. Moreover, care staffs would maintain confidentiality if each information about the safeguarding process. in order to implement any innovative care process, the care professional need to take prior permission from the other team members, higher health care authority ad the vulnerable adults and their families

• Areas of responsibility

Care professions would make a collaborative approach in order to assess the actual needs of vulnerable adults. They would cooperate with each other in partnership working to offer the best care and protection to the vulnerable people (Szilassy et al. 2017). In case of any caches of harm or abuse, they care partners would report this to their line manager in order to take immediate action on this. Each team members would provide respect and dignity to the vulnerable people in order to make them valued. Moreover, they would maintain a shared and transparent communication process between the higher health and social care official and the vulnerable people in order to inform the higher official about day-to-day activities and procedures in safeguarding system.

• Information sharing:

Care professionals would use the shared information and communication process, in which the team members would share their own viewpoint regarding the improvement of safeguarding and protection process (Hood et al. 2017). Moreover, the care staffs would collaborate with each other in order to transfer the important information about the safeguarding and protection process to the different layers of the staffs.

• Limits of authority:

Care authority has certain limitations regarding the implementation of care and safeguarding policies. For example, there are and safeguarding policies would not make any force on individual rights and freedom of vulnerable adults (Butler and Manthorpe, 2016). Moreover, care authority needs to take proper consent from the vulnerable people and their family in order to develop or conduct any treatment process of safeguarding procedures.

• Decision making:

Through the shared decision-making process, the care staffs in the health and social care context are able to form the relevant strategies in order to provide better protection and safeguarding facilities to vulnerable people.

• Recording information:

In partnership working, the team members would record the feedback of vulnerable people regarding the usefulness of their care process. Moreover, in case of any abuse or harm, the information and communication between the staffs and professional would be recorded for future proof.

3.2 Describe the review of the effectiveness of procedures ad system in working Partnership with other organisation:

In safeguarding process, the partnership working in association with other health and social care agencies and trust is highly important. In order to ensure that the partnership working is implemented in a proper manner to safeguard the vulnerable adults the care professions need to review and process (Hood et al. 2017). In order to review the partnership working process, shared communication with different organisation agencies and care staffs can be developed. In share communication process, staffs and professional of health and social trusts and agencies that work together would share their views regarding the usefulness of the ensure working process. Moreover, weekly meeting with the vulnerable people and their family would be conducted in order to understand whether they are benefited from eth working process. In case of mentally and physically disabled people, professional can use different facial expression and non-verbal communication process in order to communicate with them to get proper knowledge regarding the impact of partnership working on their health and wellbeing.

4.1 Describe how you supported the participation of vulnerable adults in a review of systems and procedures:

Being a care assistant, I focused on making active involvement of vulnerable people into the system and procedure review process. in order to support their participation, I also encouraged the vulnerable people by making hem understanding of the benefits of the review process. Moreover, I have made clear communication with the family of the vulnerable adults in order to make them, understand about how this review process can improve the overall safeguarding and protection system and promote health and wellbeing of vulnerable people.

4.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of systems and procedures to protect vulnerable adults in your own service setting

In order to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding system in order to protect the vulnerable adults, I use to conduct different process such as communication with staffs and vulnerable people, feedback process, monitoring process, performance review of staffs and behavioural and health assessment of the vulnerable people. Through the feedback process of vulnerable people, I am able to understand that whether the undertaken processes are efficient in protecting vulnerable individuals. Moreover, the health assessment shows that whether there is any recovery of physical and mental health of vulnerable people by conducting the safeguarding procedures.

4.3 Describe how you challenged ineffective practice in the promotion of the safeguarding of vulnerable adults

In my own service setting, I have faced several inefficient practices. In order to challenge the inefficient practices, I focus o setting strategies to make betterment if safeguarding process. Moreover, I also communicate with higher officials' and team members about how to improve the overall system to provide better protection to the vulnerable people from harm and abuse. I focus on following the safeguarding policies and national standard in order to maintain transparency and integrity in the safeguarding process.

4.4 Describe how you recommended proposals for improvements in systems and procedures for the protection of vulnerable adults in your own service setting:

For improvement of overall safeguarding process I would like to recommend the following strategies:

The care professions need to implement the proper monitoring and reviewing process in order to analyse the effectiveness of the overall process

Shared communication would be conducted between the care staffs and the higher professional in order to discuss the health and safeguarding process for vulnerable people.

High-quality risk assessment process needs to be developed in order to analyse the risk mm of abuse and harm to the vulnerable people.

Useful reporting system, which assists the care professional to take immediate action after sending the abuse or harm

Conclusion:

From the above-mentioned discussion, it can be concluded that, safeguarding id process in which the vulnerable people, are provided with better care and support in order to protect them from any kind of abuse. Partnership working is important is safeguarding process, in order to maintain shared communication which leads to the betterment of the safeguarding process. Care professional's needs to comply with the safeguarding policies and legislation in order to protect the vulnerable people from any kind of abuse or harm.

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