A view from the Department of Health

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to indicate the policy thinking that underpins the statutory provisions on adult safeguarding in the Care Act 2014. Design/methodology/approach -The paper draws out the key themes and features of the Care Act that are relevant to safeguarding adults. Findings -The author articulates the key messages from the Care Act regarding safeguarding adults. Research limitations/implications -As new legislation, the impact of these changes is yet to be established. Practical implications -The paper summarises aspects of the statutory guidance which all agencies are required to comply with. Social implications -The paper emphasises the involvement of people in safeguarding enquiries. Originality/value -The author is the policy lead at the Department of Health for adult safeguarding.

Mandatory reporting and adult safeguarding: a rapid realist review

“…The Act makes it unlawful for a public authority to behave in a way which is incompatible with any right as described by the ECHR. A public authority includes any local authority, the police and Crown Prosecution Service, and any person exercising a public function (Crawley, 2015). The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 20 provides for "duty of candour".…”

An evaluation of adult safeguarding outcomes’ focused recording in the context of Making Safeguarding Personal

“…Personalised safeguarding which starts with the citizen is more likely to make the person feel involved and collaborate to own and produce their own solutions (Crawley, 2015;Cooper et al, 2015). This is in contrast to traditional typical care management safeguarding intervention with a reliance on an external solutions (Crawley, 2015) often increasing services (Pike and Walsh, 2015).…”

“…Personalised safeguarding which starts with the citizen is more likely to make the person feel involved and collaborate to own and produce their own solutions (Crawley, 2015;Cooper et al, 2015). This is in contrast to traditional typical care management safeguarding intervention with a reliance on an external solutions (Crawley, 2015) often increasing services (Pike and Walsh, 2015). The heart of MSP challenges the professional gift of 'the worker knows best' attitude (Cooper et al, 2015), consequently resulting in greater autonomy and empowerment (Lawson et al, 2014)-in line with the outcomes focus and principles of safeguarding articulated in the Care Act (DH, 2014).…”

“…The growing body of MSP literature identifies the need for system change being to move away from process centred safeguarding to one of being outcomes focused (LGA Ogilvie and Williams, 2010;Crawley, 2015;Timson et al, 2015;Lawson et al, 2014, Cooper et al, 2014 with the 2008/9 No Secrets Consultation containing several references to people feeling 'done to' by safeguarding processes driven by professionals (Williams, 2013), 'with too great a focus on process and procedure' (Cooper et al, 2015: 154). Personalised safeguarding which starts with the citizen is more likely to make the person feel involved and collaborate to own and produce their own solutions (Crawley, 2015;Cooper et al, 2015).…”

“…This study evaluates one aspect of the initial MSP approaches in one local authority in terms of examining the recorded outcomes of safeguarding 'investigations'. The language of 'investigation' rather than enquiry is used as the data was collected prior to the 2015 implementation of The Care Act (2014) which brought with it a less pejorative (Crawley, 2015), emphasis on 'enquiry'. The study seeks to determine if personalised outcomes are evident in terms of the recording of the outcomes and their relationship to what the person originally sought to achieve from the intervention.…”