Principles of Safeguarding and Protection in Health and Social Care

Task 1

1.1 Abuse

When the human and civil rights of a person are violated by another person, then it is known as Abuse and this can be from single, repeated, or sustained actions. Abuse could be in the form of shaking, hitting, scalding, force-feeding, or biting. The various types of abuses are discussed below...

Physical

It includes physical forces that result in bodily pain, injury, or impairment.

Sexual

In this, a person is tricked or forced to be involved in sexual activity and it's an abuse when sexual activity is non-consensual.

Emotional

One person has control and power over another person through gestures and words and it can be related to blaming, name-calling, threats, screaming, or yelling.

Financial

It involves defrauding or stealing others' goods, money, or property through tricking and threatening.

Institutional

It happens when the service user's lifestyle is sacrificed in favor of restrictive or routine practices and person is not allowed to go outside and the privacy of the user is not respected.

Self-neglect

When a person does not care about their well-being and health due to depression or illness.

Neglect by others

The carer fails to care for service users as he or she is also stressed.

1.2 Factors That May Contribute to an Individual Being More Vulnerable to Abuse

There are various factors such as stress, fear, revenge, dependency, addiction, conflicts, and confidentiality that may contribute to an individual being vulnerable to abuse. These few factors are defined below...

Dependency

If a person is dependent on another by both the financial and non-financial aspects, then the abuser can take the benefits of this condition. In this situation, the abuser influences or forces them to do some wrong work or practices.

Mental illness

A person who has a lack of mental awareness and a caretaker has control or power over them emotionally or physically. The mentally ill person has lack of capacity to understand and make decisions about what is right or wrong or what is happening to them.

Conflicts in family

Rises in conflicts among family members also influence the abuser to target that person who is stressed from a conflict situation. The reason for conflicts may be due to not good support network around the person.

Task 2

2.1 Actions to Take if There Are Suspicions That an Individual is Being Abused

If it is suspected that an individual is abused then it is very important to take action against that abuser and in this situation following things could be done...

• Observation of a person's activities and changes in behavior.
• Can ask the reasons for the behavior changes which are noticed.
• Record the activities of the abuser and take a stand against it.
• Inform others and report about the abuse situation.
• In case of danger or physical harm, immediate call to emergency services.
• If, in some cases, individuals are not aware of being abused by someone then they can be informed and aware of the noticed activities.
• This type of situation should be always dealt with sensitively.
• Preserve all evidence about the whole situation.
• Facing situations at the workplace then follow the company's policy of reporting abuse and report.

2.2 Actions to Take if an Individual Alleges That They are Being Abused

In some cases, if individuals allege that they are being abused, then following actions could be followed...

• Give support and reassure the individual for faith and believe in them.
• Must reassure them it was not their fault.
• Carefully listen that is exactly what happened to them.
• Do not ask many leading questions and do not make any judgment about what is being told.
• Immediately report the allegations.
• Without delay record the time, date, and place where that abuse situation happened and this record should be factual, clear, and accurate. In this, do not record any opinions and assumptions related to the situation or abuser, and in last, this record should be signed.
• Hand over the whole situation to a senior person who dealt with this case-sensitively.

2.3 Ways to Ensure That Evidence of Abuse is Preserved

It is very important to preserve all the evidence of abuse and for this, there are few ways to ensure that evidence of abuse situation is preserved and protected. These ways are as follows...

• In the place where abuse happens, do not touch anything and leave it as it is.
• Do not clean, wash, or remove the clothes which are worn by individuals.
• Do not allow anyone to enter the area to keep the area safe.
• Record all the signs of physical abuse such as bruises or burns etc.
• If, any first aid item is used that will be also reserved.
• Report and record the situation with confidentiality and carefully.
• Easily do not trust anyone because they may try to destroy the evidence.
• Hand over all the record evidence to senior authorities, so, they can protect all evidence in a safe place.
• Provide protection to the person from further abuse or harm.

Task 3

3.1 National Policies And Local Systems That Relate to Safeguarding And Protection From Abuse

There are various types of policies and systems context both local and national which are related to safeguarding and protecting from abuse. The list of national policies and local systems is described below. The national policies which are related to safeguarding...

• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Independent safeguarding authority (ISA)- runs vetting and barring schemes
• Criminal record bureau
• Human right Acts 1998
• National public health service

The local systems which are included in safeguarding and protection from abuse...

• Safeguarding adult boards
• Safeguarding procedures and policies
• The police
• Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• Local authority policy (McDonald, 2015)

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3.2 Roles of Different Agencies in Safeguarding And Protecting Individuals From Abuse

Local authority

Each and every local authority has the corporate responsibility for the welfare and protection of vulnerable adults or individuals.

Social service authorities

They have developed local policy guidance for the protection of adults from abuse or risk. This guidance is issued by the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 under section 7. They have a big responsibility to provide various ranges of care and support for adults. For this purpose, they also work with other public agencies for the effective result.

Safeguarding adult boards

It is an inter-agency forum and it promotes the protection of adults from abusive practice and behavior.

Local health boards

They have a statutory duty to work in partnership with other local organizations and systems to develop strategies for improving healthcare and well-being for individuals.

Police

They have a responsibility to protect individuals from harm and they also investigate reports related to abuse and provide protection to adults.

3.3 Reports Into Serious Failures to Protect Individuals From Abuse

A few reports are described below which face into serious failure to protect individuals from abuse, these are...

Castlebeck care ltd

In Winterbourne View, a patient is being slapped, pinned down, doused in cold water as well as continuously teased and taunted by staff members.

A report about the murder of a young man, Steven Hoskin who was facing difficulties in learning was abused and murdered in 2006. It was found that he had taken tablets of paracetamol, drunk alcohol, and burned from smoking.

Mae Campbell is an Alzheimer's patient who was sexually abused two times as a resident of Hazard Nursing Home and abused by two former employees of a nursing home. The supervisor of the nursing home told her not to tell anyone as no harm or danger had occurred in Campbell.

3.4 Sources of Information And Advice About Own Role in Safeguarding And Protecting Individuals From Abuse

There are various sources to get information and advice, the list of sources is stated below...

• Internet
• Company's procedure and policies on safeguarding and protection
• Company's manager
• Local authority
• Care quality commission
• Independent safeguarding authority
• Training programs
• Books

The procedures and policies of my company will outline work roles related to protecting and safeguarding service users from the risk of abuse. Training about the safe safeguarding of vulnerable adults will aware me of legislation that is dedicated to abuse and my responsibilities to protect adults from any harm.

Task 4

4.1 Likelihood of Abuse May Be Reduced

The likelihood of abuse may be reduced by a few ways which are as follows...

Working with person-centred values

The person-centered values involve individuality, rights, choice, privacy, and independence of person and it also involves the dignity of individuals based on the term that they are being respected. If this is taken into consideration to provide support to individual then there is less chance to be abuse because all staff will work in the same way. In case if staff abuses someone then they will feel shamed due to the way they are being taught to work.

Encouraging active participation

Active participation is a process of working which recognizes the rights of individuals to participate in activities of daily routine life independently. In this way, the risk of abuse will be low because individual participates actively in their everyday life practices.

Promoting choice and rights

In this, individuals are supported to form their own personal choice. No one will choose what will harm him, so, abuse is reduced.

4.2 Importance of an Accessible Complaints Procedure For Reducing The Likelihood Of Abuse

To reduce the likelihood of abuse, it is important to access the procedure of complaints because this procedure gives rights to the complainant to be heard and supported to form their own views. This procedure is easy to use as well as understandable and it clearly sets out how to make a complaint. The procedure includes steps that will be followed at the time when a complaint is looked into and it also gives flexibility in target response time.

The procedure solves the complaints in a quick manner and this sets an open culture to make sure that in any form, abuse will not be tolerated. The complaint procedure also encourages the complainant to not accept any type of abuse in any form.

Task 5

5.1 Unsafe Practices That May Affect The Well-Being Of Individuals

Unsanitary conditions can widely spread infection which can affect the well-being of individuals and other persons. Dirty kitchen equipment, surfaces, improper hand washing, and no cover on hairs at the time of cooking can spread infections and pose risk because individuals are reporting faulty equipment while working in the kitchen, and unclean materials are also unsafe for the individual's well-being.

In relation to health and safety, staff members are not checking when patients are ill or not able to stand on their feet, and staff is not recording and monitoring the care plans for patients' wellbeing. Other unsafe practices such as not listening or ignoring a service user can cause abuse. If the marks and bruises are not taken seriously can put service users in more danger or complaints are not serious can increase the risk of abuse. This also involves the carer getting too tired to carry out responsibilities correctly or they are not been properly trained to use the equipment.

5.2 Actions to Take if Unsafe Practices Have Been Identified

If, unsafe practices and activities are identified then individuals can follow whistle-blowing activity or also report to a safeguard person because they will immediately take appropriate actions for that. It is also important to monitor all unsafe practices to gather all evidence which is important at the time of the report. Unsafe activities are very dangerous because they can cause harm or danger to individuals.

For example, an employee is aware by his manager that a few things are left on the stairs on the third floor which may hurt and increase the chances of falling over. After this general report, things have been removed. Unsafe practices can include resource difficulties, poor working practices, and operational difficulties.

5.3 Action to Take If Suspected Abuse or Unsafe Practices Have Been Reported But Nothing Has Been Done in Response

The suspected unsafe practices and abuse have been reported but in response, nothing has been done in this case, the innocent party needs to complain and report to the senior authority or the next higher level. In an organization, if the department manager does not give any response then the individual can report to management or social workers about the abuse situation. The service user can also report to the Safeguard & Protection Team Care Quality Commission or even to the police depending on the severity of the response result. Service users or complainants can also take a stand against that abuse situation with the help of various mediums. These mediums such as social media, television, radio, or newspaper will help to aware and attract the attention of a large number of people. In case of a response situation, individuals can contact local authorities to take action against unsafe practices.

Conclusion

With the help of this report, it is easy to understand the importance of safeguarding and protection principles in health and social care. With the help of this study, types and symptoms of abuse are identified which will aware individual for their well-being. This research study also helps to understand the importance of appropriate actions that are taken against abuse and unsafe practices.

References

• Kono, T., 2012. The basic principles of the Convention for Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage: A comparative analysis with the Convention for Protection of World Natural and Cultural Heritage and Japanese Law. Available at SSRN 1988870.
• McDonald, R., 2015. Safeguarding vulnerable. Fundamentals of Paramedic Practice: A Systems Approach.
• Nanda, M.M. and et. al., 2015. Childhood Maltreatment and Symptoms of Social Anxiety: Exploring the Role of Emotional Abuse, Neglect, and Cumulative Trauma. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma.

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