Safeguarding Policy :: Hope and Vision Communities

Safeguarding Policy

# Safeguarding service users from abuse

The central aim of this safeguarding policy is to set out for all relevant parties the:

Principles and values underlying Hope and Vision Communities' approach to the safeguarding of its service users.
Ways in which we do this.
Steps taken to avoid abuse taking place.
Actions taken to deal with abuse if it occurs or is suspected of occurring.

Hope and Vision Communities believes that service users must be safeguarded from all forms of abuse. It recognises that it must protect its service users at all times from the risk of abuse and identify and deal with specific instances of abuse if they occur.

Hope and Vision Communities always aims for the very best quality of care and will not be satisfied with anything that falls short of this. It takes every possible action to prevent abuse and to deal with it as promptly and effectively as possible if it occurs.

This policy should be read in conjunction with: https://www.berkshiresafeguardingadults.co.uk/wokingham/

Six key principles of Safeguarding

Care & Support Statutory Guidance from the Government can be found by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/506202/23902777 _Care_Act_Book.pdf

Within the guidance are details of the six key principles that underpin all adult safeguarding work. These are:

Empowerment – People being supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent. “I am asked what I want as the outcomes from the safeguarding process and these directly inform what happens.”
Prevention – It is better to take action before harm occurs. “I receive clear and simple information about what abuse is, how to recognise the signs and what I can do to seek help.”
Proportionality – The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented. “I am sure that the professionals will work in my interests, as I see them, and they will only get involved as much as needed.”
Protection – Support and representation for those in greatest need. “I get help and support to report abuse and neglect. I get help so that I am able to take part in the safeguarding process to the extent to which I want.”
Partnership – Local solutions through services working with their communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse. “I know that staff treat any personal and sensitive information in confidence, only sharing what is helpful and necessary. I am confident that professionals will work together and with me to get the best result for me.”
Accountability – Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding. “I understand the role of everyone involved in my life and so do they.”

Defining abuse

Hope and Vision Communities recognises that abuse of service users may take the following forms:

Physical abuse – including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate physical sanctions.
Domestic violence – including psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional abuse; so called ‘honour’ based violence.
Sexual abuse – including rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, indecent exposure and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting.
Psychological abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or supportive networks.
Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult’s financial affairs or arrangements, including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.
Modern slavery – encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.
Discriminatory abuse – including forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment; because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
Organisational abuse – including neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting such as a hospital or care home, for example, or in relation to care provided in one’s own home. This may range from one off incidents to on-going ill treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.
Neglect and acts of omission – including ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.
Self-neglect – this covers a wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding.

Identifying abusers

Hope and Vision Communities accepts that abuse can be committed by a range of possible people. It therefore accepts its responsibility to protect the service users from possible abuse from all sources, which include:

Staff and volunteers working in the home
Service users’ friends and relatives
People who have contact with service users while they are temporarily outside the premises
Other service users

The role and accountability of staff and volunteers in relation to abuse

Hope and Vision Communities staff and volunteers have a responsibility to:

Provide service users with the best possible care.
Desist from any abusive action in relation to service users.
Report anything they witness which is or might be abusive.
Co-operate in every possible way in any investigation into alleged abuse.
Participate in training activities relating to abuse and protection.

Hope and Vision Communities staff and volunteers are responsible for:

Developing the systems and structures within which it is possible to deliver the best possible care and support.
Encouraging a culture and ethos that is hostile to any sort of abuse.
Producing and regularly revising the policies and procedures to combat abuse.
Operating personnel policies which identify, appropriately deal with and if necessary, exclude from practice potential or actual abusers.
Providing training for staff and volunteers in all aspects of abuse and protection.
Investigating any evidence of abuse speedily and sympathetically.
Implementing improvements to procedures if an investigation into abuse reveals deficiencies in the way in which the home operates.
Collaborating with all other relevant agencies in combating abuse and improving the protection of service users.

Recruitment practices

Hope and Vision Communities takes great care in the recruitment of staff and volunteers, carrying out all possible checks on potential employees/volunteers to a high standard. Furthermore, it will co-operate in all initiatives regarding the sharing of information on care workers who are found to be unsuitable to work with vulnerable people. The home ensures that new employees are checked through the DBS barring list.

Preventing abuse from occurring

Hope and Vision Communities is committed to taking all possible steps to prevent abuse from occurring, including:

Setting out and making widely known the procedures for responding to suspicions or evidence of abuse.
Operating personnel policies which ensure that all potential staff and volunteers are rigorously checked, by the taking up of references and clearance through DBS barring list.
Incorporating material relevant to abuse into the training of all staff and volunteers.
Maintaining vigilance concerning the possibility of abuse of service users from whatever source.
Encouraging among staff, volunteers, service users and all other stakeholders a climate of openness and awareness that makes it possible to pass on concerns about behaviour that might be abusive or that might lead to abuse.
Devising systems that minimise the risk of abuse of service users by other service users by understanding and dealing appropriately with any form of aggression.
Maintaining robust procedures for regulating any contact the staff and volunteers need to have with service users’ property, money or financial affairs.
Communicating concerns to the appropriate officers of the local adults safeguarding authority.
Helping service users as far as possible to avoid or control situations or relationships that would make them vulnerable to abuse.

Identifying actual or possible abuse

Hope and Vision Communities aims to identify any instances of actual or possible abuse involving our service users by all possible means, including:

Fostering an open and trusting communication structure so that staff, volunteers, service users and others feel able to discuss their concerns with someone authorised to take action.
Ensuring that all staff, volunteers and service users know whom they may turn to for advice and action if they become aware or suspect that abuse is occurring.
Encouraging staff and volunteers to recognise that a commitment to the highest possible standards of care must, when necessary, overrule loyalty to colleagues individually or corporately.
Making it clear to staff and volunteers that failing to report incidents or suspicions of abuse is itself abusive and may lead to disciplinary or criminal proceedings.
Operating systems of management, supervision, internal inspection and quality control that have the potential to reveal abuse where it exists.

Procedures for when abuse has occurred or is alleged to have occurred

If abuse is clearly occurring or is alleged to have occurred, Hope and Vision Communities takes swift action to limit the damage to service users and to deal with the abuse, as follows:

a) Initial procedure

The staff member or volunteer will:

In situations of immediate danger, take urgent action by calling the relevant emergency services (e.g. Police, ambulance, GP).
Have regard for their own safety, leaving the situation if it is not safe for them.
Listen to those reporting abuse, offer necessary support and reassurance.
Clarify issues of confidentiality early on. For example, staff or volunteers must make it clear that they will have to discuss the concerns with their supervisor.
Note their concerns and any information given to or witnessed by them.
Report concerns to the appropriate line manager immediately.
REMEMBER IT IS NOT NECESSARY OR ADVISABLE TO SEEK EVIDENCE. By supporting those disclosing abuse and carefully logging any information given, staff and volunteers will lay the foundations for an effective formal investigation. It is important staff and volunteers understand the need not to contaminate, or to preserve evidence if a crime may have been committed.
Where a service user expresses a wish for concerns not to be pursued then this should be respected wherever possible. However, decisions about whether to respect the service user’s wishes must have regard to the level of risk to the individual and others, and their capacity to understand the decision in question. In some circumstances the services user’s wishes may be overridden in favour of considerations of safety. Advice on the correct action to take can be obtained on an anonymous basis from the Adults Safeguarding Board.
Decisions to override the service user’s wish not to take the matter further should be the product of discussion with appropriate line management.
Any service user whom it is thought might lack mental capacity to give their consent for the abuse to be reported will be assessed for their capacity to decide and a “best interests” decision will be taken in line with Mental Capacity Act procedures.

The first priority should always be to ensure the safety and protection of service users. To this end, it is the responsibility of all staff to act on any suspicion or evidence of abuse or neglect and to pass on their concerns to a responsible person or agency. Senior staff/managers must approve any actions to be taken and any documentation or correspondence being sent out. Information passed on must be relevant, necessary and up to date.

The senior staff and volunteer member or manager (or whoever has authority at the time) will:

Alert the local safeguarding unit and follow its procedures and guidance from that point on.
In some instances, the registered manager might need to report the matter directly to the police and take guidance from them on the measures to be taken.
The registered manager must take steps to ensure that there is no further risk of the victim being abused by the alleged or suspected perpetrator.
The registered manager must ensure that the needs, support, protection, wellbeing and special/additional care of the alleged victim of the abuse are met at the outset and subsequently throughout the proceedings.
If the alleged abuser is a staff or volunteer member and there is sufficient evidence that abuse has or might have occurred, the registered manager will suspend the person from duty pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation. The manager will receive guidance on the steps to be taken following the local safeguarding authority strategy meeting, which will be held following the reporting of the abuse or suspected abuse.
If the evidence is insufficiently strong to warrant suspension, the staff or volunteer member against whom the allegation has been made will be instructed not to have further unsupervised contact with any service users until the matter is resolved.

b) In Summary

The Hope and Vision Communities staff member or volunteer should:

Stay Calm
Listen patiently
Reassure the person they are doing the right thing by telling you
Explain what you are going to do
Report to relevant manager
Write a factual account of what you have seen, immediately

The Hope and Vision Communities staff member or volunteer should not:

Appear shocked, horrified, disgusted or angry
Press the individual for details (unless requested to do so)
Make comments or judgements other than to show concern
Promise to keep secrets
Confront the abuser
Risk contaminating evidence

The Hope and Vision Communities staff member or volunteer will report concerns to the Relevant Manager who will:

Ascertain whether the situation might fall within the definitions of abuse outlined in this policy
Consider the service user’s capacity to make decisions
Ascertain whether an advocate or appropriate adult might be necessary
Ascertain any immediate action required
Ascertain whether an investigation is necessary in accordance with internal personnel policies and procedures
Where abuse is suspected conclude that a referral be made to the appropriate agency

c) Investigating alleged abuse

In many cases, an investigation will be carried out or led by a member of an external agency in line with the action plan determined by the initial strategy meeting convened by the local safeguarding authority. If a staff or volunteer member is expected to carry out an investigation, the following guidance should be followed:

An appointed investigating officer will usually consult the person who may have been abused to hear their account of what has occurred and their views about what action should be taken, involving the service user’s relatives, friends or representatives if that is appropriate and in line with the wishes of the service user.
The investigating officer is expected to take into account in his or her conducting of the investigation:
- The fears and sensitivity of the abused person
- Any risks of intimidation or reprisals
- The need to protect and support witnesses
- Any confidentiality or data protection issues
- The obligation to keep the abused person and in specific instances the alleged perpetrator updated on the progress of the investigation
The investigating officer will assure the person who may have been abused that they will be taken seriously, that the comments will as far as possible be treated confidentially, that they will be protected from reprisals and intimidation, and that they will be kept informed of actions taken and of the outcome.
The investigating officer will consider whether the service user needs independent help or representation in presenting their evidence and, in conjunction with the registered manager if necessary, will arrange for the appropriate help or support to be made available.
If the abused person expressly states a wish that no further action should be taken, the investigating officer will consider whether:
- A danger to others exists from not investigating further.
- In the light of that assessment if it is possible to follow the person’s wishes.
- In any case, precautionary measures should be taken to protect others from the possibility of abuse from the same source.

d) The person will be informed of what is to happen
If it is decided that an investigation should proceed, the investigating officer will, as discreetly and confidentially as possible, look into all aspects of the situation:

The investigation will include interviewing the staff or volunteers involved in the incident up to that point, hearing and assessing evidence from any others who might be in a position to supply information, exploring every other possible source of evidence, maintaining appropriate contact with any other agencies involved, and if necessary, seeking expert advice on any technical aspects of the situation which are outside the knowledge or expertise available within the organisation.
Any staff or volunteers from whom evidence is taken will be assured that they will be dealt with in a fair and equitable manner and informed of their employment, legal and procedural rights.
The alleged victim of the abuse, and where appropriate their relatives, friends or representatives, will at all times be kept as fully informed as possible of what is happening regarding the suspected abuse.
The investigation will be carried out as quickly as possible and the findings presented to the local safeguarding strategy group, which will then decide what further action to take.

e) Following the investigation

If it seems from the investigation that on the balance of probabilities abuse did indeed take place, the registered manager will, if the abuser is a staff or volunteer member, initiate and carry through proceedings according to the home’s disciplinary policy, or if the abuser is not a member of staff or a volunteer, take action to involve other responsible bodies.
If abuse is proved against a staff or volunteer member, the registered manager will initiate appropriate action, which most likely will be dismissal and referral to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
Other employment sanctions could apply depending on whether there might have been mitigating or extenuating circumstances. In some cases, retraining could be appropriate.
The service user or representatives will be informed of the outcome of the investigation and any further action, and will be consulted about whether any redress or apology would be appropriate and helpful to them.
The registered manager will take appropriate steps to inform the Independent Safeguarding Authority for possible inclusion of the person on its barring lists as someone who is unsuitable to work again with vulnerable adults and possibly children.
At all stages of the process, a careful record will be kept of all action taken, paying particular attention to the sensitivity of the abused person.

f) Planning further action

At the end of an incident involving possible or actual abuse, managers should review what has happened with a view to assessing whether the home or its management has been in any way culpable, ineffective or negligent, learning lessons for the way the home should operate in the future, and passing on any appropriate information to other agencies.

If necessary, the home’s policies, procedures and training arrangements should be modified in response to any material that has emerged from the incident or the investigation. The home might carry this out with advice and guidance from the local safeguarding authority.

Record Keeping

Hope and Vision Communities ensures that all details associated with allegations of abuse are recorded clearly and accurately. The records are kept securely and the rules on confidentiality are carefully followed, in line with Data Protection principles.

Related Policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with other policies of the home that relate to aspects of abuse or protection of service users. They include the policies on complaints, physical restraint, the management of service users’ money and financial affairs, recruitment, induction, staff and volunteer development and training, staff and volunteer supervision, and importantly whistle blowing. The policy on mental capacity will also be relevant in some circumstances.

Training

All staff and volunteers receive training in recognising abuse and carrying out their responsibilities under this policy as part of their induction programme within 12 weeks of their employment.