Principles_of_Safeguarding_and_Protection_in_Health_and_Social_Care.

Principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social care. 1.KNOWING HOW TO RECOGNISE SIGNS OF ABUSE 1.1 Define different types of abuse. 1.2 Identify the associated signs and symptoms. PHYSICAL ABUSE: is an act of another party involving contact intended to cause feelings of physical pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm. There are many forms of physical abuse which, have related signs and symptoms. For instance the signs for punching, kicking, strangling, may be bruising, breaks to bones, fractures, or death. Slapping may cause reddening to the skin or bruising. Pushing or tripping may cause someone to trip or fall. Sleep deprivation may cause someone to be continually tired. Exposure to extreme heat or cold may cause burns to the skin. Withholding food or medication may cause hunger or an increase in the incidence for which the medication was prescribed. SEXUAL ABUSE: also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. There are many forms of sexual abuse which have related signs and symptoms. For instance the signs for rape may be bruising to genitalia unwanted child birth. Unwanted touching, either of a child or an adult may lead to the victim becoming withdrawn, aggressive or tearful. PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE: also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, or depression. Forms of psychological abuse include threating to harm or abandon someone, bullying, the signs for which may be low self-esteem, reluctance of victim to be alone with abuser, and unable to trust people. FINANCIAL ABUSE: is the illegal or unauthorized use of a person’s property, money, by another person. Forms of financial abuse include theft, fraud, or misuse of property. The signs may be the unexplained disappearance of personal possessions, unexplained shortage of money despite an adequate income. INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE: typically occurs in a care home, nursing home, or hospital setting. Forms include discriminatory abuse, financial abuse, neglect physical abuse psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and verbal abuse. Most of the signs and symptoms have been described under the previous definitions. Also a lack of choice over everyday decisions for instance mealtimes, and bedtimes, may lead to an individual’s expectation becoming less. Administration of excessive doses of medication without benefits to the individual. SELF NEGLECT: occurs when an individual refuses to care for themselves and refuses to accept care from other people. Individuals who are mentally ill or have mental health problems, alcoholics and drug abusers may be more likely to become victims of self-neglect. The signs may be an unkempt appearance, lack of personal hygiene, lack of self-respect, low self-esteem, being drunk or high unable to communicate coherently. NEGLECT BY OTHERS: occurs when a care giver fails to meet an individual’s needs. The forms include neglecting personal hygiene, depriving of food and warmth. The signs may be a dirty smelly unshaven individual. Hunger pangs, weight loss of the individual. Being cold, and shivering. 1.3 Describe factors that may contribute to an individual being more vulnerable to abuse. Some risk factors that may contribute to an individual being more vulnerable to abuse are poor/ lack of communication between service user and support worker hence a lack of understanding by the support worker of service user’s needs and wants. Poor quality untrained staff who do not understand or have the knowledge or skills to meet service user’s needs .A Lack of opportunity for staff to build relationships with service users. Support workers who have personal problems i.e. alcohol or drug dependency, disturbed sleep, separation/ divorce all of which are potential distractions making the support worker less focused on their job. 2. KNOW HOW TO RESPOND TO SUSPECTED OR ALLEGED ABUSE 2.1 Explain the actions to take if there are suspicions that an individual is being abused. The actions to take in response to a suspicion of abuse are:-protect, report, preserve, record, and refer. Firstly protect the victim ensuring they are and they know that they are safe and protected from further abuse and ensure any medical treatment is given if required. Provide comfort and reassurance to the alleged victim that they are now safe from further abuse. Have empathy for the victim as it may be they have been through quite an ordeal. If the victim wants to tell you about the abuse then stay calm and listen carefully to what they have to say being careful not to ask leading question simply ask ‘what happened next'’ Secondly report the abuse to line manager, as per the policy on reporting abuse, in their absence to on call manager, both verbally and in writing. Thirdly preserve any evidence. Finally make a written statement of the abuse which may be referred to other agencies at a later date. 2.2 Explain the actions to take if an individual alleges they are being abused First and most importantly is to believe what you are told, no matter how unlikely or ridiculous it may sound. Provide reassurances to the victim that it is not their fault, and that they are in no way to blame for what has happened .Report the allegation immediately to my line manager. It is important to remember that the individual is reporting the abuse because they want it to stop. Then proceed as is 2.1 2.3 Identify ways to ensure evidence of abuse is preserved. Preserve evidence, by leaving people and things exactly as they were at the time of the abuse, as tampering with evidence may hinder investigations. For instance do not clean the environment [or allow the victim to be cleaned in the case of sexual assault swabs may need to be taken for forensic purposes until the police give the all clear].Do not wash any clothing as again this may contain vital evidence. Take photographs or draw a diagram on a gingerbread man of any injuries. 3 UNDERSTAND THE NATIONAL AND LOCAL CONTEXT OF SAFEGUARDING AND PROTECTION FROM ABUSE. 3.1 Identify national policies and local systems that relate to safeguarding and protection from abuse Nationally or locally vulnerable adults are protected under the safeguarding adult’s agenda. Local authorities have multi agency safeguarding adult’s boards which exist to ensure partner agencies recognize and act on safeguarding issues at strategic and individual levels. National legislation includes safeguarding vulnerable group act2006, no secrets 2000, the mental capacity act 2007, human rights act 1998. At my workplace AFG safeguarding vulnerable adults policy ops/g/005. 3.2 Explain the roles of different agencies in safeguarding and protecting individuals from abuse. At local level AFG has policy ops/g/005 i.e. safeguarding vulnerable adults which provides clear guidance as to what action to take in the event of abuse. My employer also provides mandatory training regarding safeguarding vulnerable adult to reinforce that policy. In the instance of an individual being accused of abuse, then the following steps would be followed. The accused abuser would be suspended on full pay until the results of investigations were completed. An inter-agency investigating team could be formed by a social worker and AFG management to investigate an allegation of abuse. The team would prepare a series of questions to be answered by the alleged abuser at a hearing. The social worker would be responsible for overseeing and the outcome of the safeguarding assessment. Any disciplinary action would be taken by the management based on the outcome of the social workers recommendations. The alleged abuser would then be reinstated reprimanded through a warning or dismissed. At national level the police investigate allegations of abuse and the crown prosecution service are responsible for prosecutions. 3.3 Identify reports into serious failures to protect individuals from abuse. Probably one of the most notorious abusers in recent history was Dr. Harold Shipman. An English G.P. and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with over 200 deaths positively ascribed to him. In 1988 a Coroner passed on concerns to the police regarding the high mortality rates of Shipman’s patients. The police 'investigated' these concerns but no charges were made! Shipman went on to murder three more people, by administering lethal doses of diamorphine and passing the deaths off as poor health on the death certificates. The daughter of his last victim, a lawyer, became concerned that a will had been made by her late mother citing Shipman as the sole beneficiary of the deceased estate. Police investigations were restated. The body was exhumed and found to have traces of diamorphine. Shipman was arrested and found to own the typewriter of the type used to make the will. Shipman was tried, convicted and sentenced to fifteen consecutive life sentences. Shipman hung himself in jail after serving only twelve months of his sentence. 3.4 Identify sources of information and advice about own role in safeguarding and protecting individuals from abuse. Sources of information regarding my role at work in safeguarding and protecting individuals from abuse include AFG whistle blowing policy training workshops on safeguarding. Legislation includes care standards act, mental capacity act and no secrets booklet. The internet also provides a wealth of information on safeguarding. 4.UNDERSTAND WAYS TO REDUCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF ABUSE. 4.1 Explain how the likelihood of abuse may be reduced. a. working with person centered values. Putting people first, through a person centered approach, empowers them. Abuse can occur sometimes unwittingly by staff when actions are carried out for the benefit of the staff and not the service user. For instance preparing meals without offering choice because they know what the service user likes. It is down to individual team members to remind colleagues to offer choice. Good working practice and making suggestions reduce the likelihood of institutional abuse. Allowing whenever possible service users to make choices in their everyday lives. The person centered plan as a direct result of the meeting will eliminate these tendencies. b. encouraging active participation. Encourage an individual to participate in activities and relationships of everyday life as independently as possible. The individual is an active partner in their own care or support rather than a passive recipient. This definition accentuates two key principles underpinning care: the rights of the individual and the independence or autonomy of the individual. c. promoting choice and rights. By promoting choice the decisions regarding every day choices are placed in the individual’s hands rather than someone else. Many people who experience health and social care, especially individuals with significant needs, are marginalized, excluded and disenfranchised. They are not given the same opportunity to have a say in how they live their lives as most other people in the general community and their choices in what they do are restricted. 4.2 Explain the importance of an accessible complaints procedure. Having an accessible complaints procedure, makes it clear how to report suspected abuse and to whom you should report it to. This empowers staff to feel confident to report their concerns which in turn will be treated confidentially and professionally. Any potential abuser would be more likely to abuse, in the absence of such a policy, as they may think abuse was less likely to be reported. 5. Know how to recognize and report unsafe practices. 5.1 Describe unsafe practices that may affect the wellbeing of individuals. There are many ways unsafe practices can affect the well-being of an individual. Basically anything that puts another individual at risk may be described as an unsafe practice. These include neglect, in feeding, washing, bathing, wearing unclean clothes, misadministration of medication, theft of service user’s property, and failing to report abuse. 5.2 Explain actions to take if unsafe practice has been identified. I would report my concerns immediately to my line manager verbally and in writing, if I identified unsafe practices. My manager would act upon my concerns and strive towards a safer working environment. 5.3Describe action to take if suspected abuse or unsafe practices have been reported but nothing has been done If no action was taken I would continue to voice my concerns. If still no action was taken I follow whistle blowing policy. If still no action was taken I would refer my suspicions to either or both social services and the police depending on the seriousness of the abuse.