Friend, Relative or Carer

Safeguarding means protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about making people aware of their rights, protecting them and preventing or stopping abuse. We need to encourage people to report any suspected adult abuse, whether it happened recently, or not. 

Abuse is not normal and never ok. Being abused means a person is being deliberately hurt by someone else. 

It can vary from the seemingly trivial act of not treating someone with dignity and respect – to extreme punishment, cruelty or torture. 

The commonly recognised forms of abuse are Physical, Sexual, Financial, Psychological, Discriminatory, Neglect or acts of omission, Organisational, Self-Neglect, Domestic Abuse and Modern Slavery. 

If you employ somebody to help care for you or provide you with support, it’s important that you are able to trust them. 

You need to know that those around you will not: 

• abuse you in any way 
• steal from you 
• deliberately fail to carry out their duty to care for you 
• discriminate against you.

Click on the link below for further information related to safeguarding adults. 

“Mrs S” Family worries about care home 

Mrs S was referred following a concern about an incident that took place at the nursing home she was living in. Mrs S has very advanced dementia and is no longer able to communicate. She also has very reduced mobility and needs full assistance with all personal care mobility. 

“Mr K” Alcohol affecting daily life 

Mr K is a 53 year old man, who attends the Emergency Department on a regular basis due to accidents and injuries caused by alcohol intoxication. He had numerous referrals to the Substance Misuse team from his family and housing manager due to falls, being vulnerable under the influence of alcohol, risk from assault, being a danger to himself, plus he had been the victim of break-ins to his flat and robbery. In this case Mr K was not being abused by an outsider but his actions were making him extremely vulnerable.