1.4 Preventing Abuse and Neglect

1. Introduction

Prevention is a key principle of adult safeguarding:

‘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” Care and Support Statutory Guidance: 14.13)

All staff should recognise the importance of preventing abuse and neglect, wherever possible.

Staff who make early, positive interventions with adults and families can make a huge difference to the lives of adults who are experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and may prevent the deterioration of a situation or breakdown of a support network.

2. What does Prevention mean?

Effective prevention in safeguarding is defined broadly, and should cover all adults with care and support needs and services. However, it does not mean adopting an overly-protective or risk-averse approach.

Prevention needs to take place in the context of person-centred support, where adults are empowered to make choices and supported to manage risks.

Everyone has a role to play in preventing abuse and neglect; including the adult themselves and their carers, staff, professionals and volunteers, and the local community / general public.

3. Ways of Preventing Abuse and Neglect

Key to the successful prevention of abuse is an open culture with a genuinely person-centred approach to care underpinned by a zero tolerance policy towards abuse and neglect.

Ways of preventing abuse and neglect include:

• supporting adults to safeguard themselves;
• provision of safe places;
• training and education for staff and volunteers;
• awareness-raising among staff and the local community;
• providing information and advice to adults and carers;
• advocacy for adults and carers;
• safeguarding policies and procedures;
• community links;
• legislation and regulation.

3.1 Supporting adults to safeguard themselves

One of the most effective ways to safeguard adults who may be vulnerable to abuse or neglect is to enable them to safeguard themselves. Empowerment and choice are to central to adult safeguarding and practice, and involves working with and supporting adults to recognise and protect themselves from abuse. It also means taking a risk-enabling approach within services and ensuring that people who use services have genuine choice.

If adults are to protect themselves from abuse, staff need to support them to:

• understand what abuse is;
• be aware of who might potentially exploit or harm them;
• understand their rights and have the skills and resources to be able to deal with them;
• have the information, knowledge and confidence to take action and ask for help if they need it;
• be aware of how they can reduce the risks of being harmed or exploited (for example, avoiding potentially risky situations).

3.2 Training and education

See also Multi Agency Safeguarding Training

A key way to prevent abuse and neglect is through providing training and education for staff and volunteers.

Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB) provide multi-agency safeguarding adults training for staff and volunteers, full details can be found on the BSAB website.

3.3. Awareness raising

The public has a vital role in safeguarding adults through the prevention and recognition of abuse.  It is the responsibility of all agencies and organisations to ensure that there is a good level of public awareness of adult abuse and how concerns should be reported.

Public awareness campaigns can make a significant contribution to the prevention of abuse. They are more effective if backed up by information and advice about where to get help and training for staff and services to respond.

3.4. Information and advice

See also Information and Advice.

Access to information and advice are essential for the prevention of abuse and for backing up public awareness campaigns. Information should be made available in a range of different formats. Easy read versions should be provided for adults with care and support needs and their carers.

Under the Care Act 2014, the local authority must provide information and advice on:

• the different types of abuse and neglect;
• how adults keep can keen themselves physically, sexually, financially and emotionally safe;
• how to raise concerns about the safety or wellbeing of an adult who has care and support needs;
• who to tell when there are concerns about abuse or neglect and what will happen as a result.

3.5 Advocacy

See also Independent Advocacy.

Advocacy can make a significant contribution to preventing abuse through enabling adults at risk to become more aware of their rights and able to express their concerns.

Advocacy services may be preventative as they can enable adults at risk to express themselves in potential or actual abusive situations. Equally, their presence in enabling adults to express themselves in other situations (for example when their needs are being assessed or at times of transition from children’s to adult services) can  contribute to building confidence more generally and hence be preventative.

3.6 Policies, procedures and processes

Having robust, effective adult safeguarding procedures is key to preventing abuse and neglect. Policies and procedures that can support the prevention of adult abuse include:

• whistleblowing (see Whistleblowing);
• complaints (see Complaints or Appeals in Relation to the Safeguarding Adults Process);
• risk management / assessments;
• promoting positive practice;
• recruitment and retention processes (see Safer Recruitment and Employment Practices);
• disclosure and barring (see Disclosure and Barring);
• staff development, supervision and support (see Supervision);
• information-sharing protocols (see Information Sharing);
• effective recording (see Case Recording);
• codes of conduct;
• relevant standards for service (for example, Fundamental Standards, Care Quality Commission).

Effective planning in the context of person-centred care is a core element of good quality care and support, in conjunction with conducting a risk assessment. Effective care and support planning should consider any potential risks of abuse. Staff should understand the role of the care and support plan as being one facet in a strategy aimed at preventing abuse or neglect.

3.7 Community links

Services and providers of care and support and adults benefit from having contact with a range of people in the community. Adults may be more vulnerable to abuse or neglect if they are isolated and cut off from families and friends. Reducing isolation through links with the community can mean there are more people who can be alert to the possibility of abuse, as well as providing links to potential sources of support for adults and their carers.

It is particularly important that carers are informed about existing services and sources of support in order to support them in their caring role and reduce stress, thus reducing the risk of abuse. See also Carers and Adult Safeguarding.

3.8 Regulation and legislation

Regulation and legislation play a role in the prevention of abuse.

The Care Act 2014 provides a legislative framework for those working in adult safeguarding, and places duties on the local authority to undertake safeguarding enquiries and form a Safeguarding Adults Board.

Regulators also have a key role to play in safeguarding – they can raise concerns about abusive practice and identify gaps in how standards are applied or interpreted, particularly in relation to workforce training, qualifications and skills and the effect of standards on safeguarding practice. See Care Quality Commission.