The Health and Social Care Information Centre has just published the first annual findings from its new ‘safeguarding adults’ data set. The figures show that safeguarding referrals were opened for 104,050 people in 2013-14. Some of the key graphs from the report are below. The review also showed that there were a total of 56 serious case reviews in 2013-14 covering 100 adults at risk, of which 46 suffered serious harm and died and 54 suffered serious harm and survived.
1. Allegations most commonly concerned abuse in the person’s own home
2. Neglect was the most common abuse allegation
3. Most referrals led to action being taken
4. People lacked capacity in three out of 10 cases
5. Almost two-thirds of people had a physical disability, frailty or sensory impairment
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In the light of the Mids Staffs. hospital fiasco I am suprised with that Care Homes are ,once again at the forefront, jSafe guarding just doesn’t seem to be happening in the NHS.
The figures are more complex than CC portrays here. Only 32% of allegations were substantiated and 11 % partially unsubstantiated. In my experience many younger social workers social workers tend to ‘evidence guilt’ if they believe someone is guilty, so as in cases of the law there will be innocent people who are wrongly condemned. The converse is clearly also true. But the figures do suggest allegations occur with referrals in large number where clearly substantiation is no evident.
The whole safeguarding industry encourages witch hunts and malicious reporting by the way it works, Yet the same group condemns the same for its own. Something is not quite right here. It also fails to see the scale of abuse / neglect that clearly should be of much concern in respect to social care staff / commissioned services.
I have reported / neglect abuse by commissioned care staff (agency staff, including managers are very adept at lying / covering up and making malicious false allegations to deflect attention away from themselves). I can tell you that things do not change because social work has a ‘conflict of interest’ issue.