Safeguarding Has Two Main Dimensions

SAFEGUARDING BRIEFING

This briefing aims to give an overview. It is not designed to be a comprehensive guide or to replace safeguarding training which will form part of the induction for all volunteers.

Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and

enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. It is fundamental to creating

high quality health and social care.

We are committed to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children andbelieve that safeguarding is ‘everybody’s business’.

Healthwatch Isle of Wight will take every possible step to ensure the safety, protection and welfare of these groups and will implement this through its policies, procedures, practice and training.

We endorse the CQC’s approach to safeguarding:

“Safeguarding is the responsibility of whole communities and depends on the

everyday vigilance of everyone who plays a part in the lives of children and

adults in vulnerable situations to ensure that people are kept as safe from

harm as possible.”

Care Quality Commission, Our safeguarding protocol: The

Care Quality Commission’s responsibility and commitment to safeguarding,

CQC 2012

Adult Safeguarding

Adult abuse is when someone harms a vulnerable adult at risk

Adults at risk are defined as people who need more help than others to stay safe.

The official definition is given below:

‘who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself from significant harm or exploitation’

Examples are: people with disabilities, people with mental health problems, people who are ill for a long time, people who are old.

Abuse can take many forms. The following is a list of the main types of abuse:

Financial abuse: is illegal or unauthorised theft or use of a person’s property, money or other valuables

Neglect: is a form of abuse in which the perpetrator is responsible for providing care for someone who is unable to care for him or herself, but fails to provide adequate care to meet their needs. Neglect can be deliberate or can occur as a result of not understanding what someone’s needs are.

Physical abuse: is abuse involving contact intended to cause or resulting in pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm. It can also result in feelings of fear and other psychological problems.

It could include hitting (with or without an object), kicking, shaking, burning, pulling hair, biting or pushing. It could be rough handling during care giving, for example lifting someone in appropriately instead of using the correct procedures or equipment. A person could be stopped from going out, locked in a room or tied to a chair or bed.

Sexual abuse: can be defined as direct or indirect involvement in sexual activity by a person without their consent. People who do not understand what is happening to them are unable to consent to sexual activity.

Psychological/emotional abuse: Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behaviour that is psychologically harmful. Such abuse is often associated with situations of power imbalance, such as abusive relationships

Discriminatory abuse: This is where a person is abused or treated less favourably without a proper justification because of their: gender, race (including skin colour), ethnicity or culture, religion or belief, preferred language, sexual orientation, political views or age. Discriminatory beliefs and practices limit the lives of the people upon whom they are imposed.

Institutional abuse: consists of repeated instances of poor care of individuals or groups of individuals. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of structures, policies, processes and practices within an organization.

Signs of abuse can include:

-  When a person looks dirty or is not dressed properly

-  Has an injury which is difficult to explain

-  Seems frightened around certain people

-  Seems unusually down or withdrawn

-  Finds money missing

What to do:

If you witness the abuse of an at risk adult or you have seen changes in behaviour or living patterns that make you suspect that someone is being abused, it is important that you don’t ignore what you have seen or suspect. Everyone has the right to live free from abuse of any kind and there is support and assistance available to put a stop to it.

In order to make sure that the incident is recalled accurately, writing down the date, time, name of the abuser and what you saw is very important. It may also be necessary to write down what has happened, as described in the abuse victim’s own words. In these circumstances it is essential to make a clear distinction between facts or observations and subjective opinions. This should be done as soon as possible after the event.

Any concerns you may have must be reported the HealthWatch Isle of Wight Safeguarding Lead

Gretel Ingham – tel: 07739436606

Child Protection

Child abuse is the term used when adults harm a child under 18 years of age. Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child either directly by inflicting harm, or indirectly, by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting; by those known to them; or, more rarely, by a stranger. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children. (NSPCC 2010)

Categories of Abuse- Definitions (Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006)

Physical Abuse- may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child.

Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Emotional Abuse - is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as over protection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying, causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Sexual abuse- involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape, buggery or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual online images, watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Neglect - is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.

Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance misuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

·  provide adequate food, clothing and shelter(including exclusion from the home or abandonment)

·  protect a child from physical, emotional harm or danger

·  ensure adequate supervision(including the use of inadequate care-givers)

·  ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Signs of abuse: (NSPCC Inform The definition and signs of child abuse 2010)

Physical abuse: can include: bruises or other injuries which are unexplained or inconsistent with explanation, can be on ‘soft’ parts of the body where accidental injuries are unlikely. Also, cigarette burns, human bite marks, broken bones, scalds with upward splash mark, fear of parents being approached for an explanation, aggressive or withdrawn behavior, flinching when approached or touched, a reluctance to get changed – even in hot weather, depression

Emotional Abuse: signs can include - neurotic behaviour e.g. sulking, hair twisting, rocking,

being unable to play, fear of making mistakes, sudden speech disorders, self-harm, fear of parent being approached regarding their behavior, developmental delay in terms of emotional progress

Sexual abuse: Behavioural signs can include - sudden or unexplained changes in behaviour e.g. becoming aggressive or withdrawn, fear of being left with a specific person or group of people , having nightmares , running away from home , sexual knowledge which is beyond their age, or developmental level, sexual drawings or language, bedwetting, eating problems such as overeating or anorexia self-harm, mutilation, sometimes leading to suicide attempts, saying they have secrets they cannot tell anyone about, substance or drug abuse, suddenly having unexplained sources of money, not allowed to have friends (particularly in adolescence), acting in a sexually explicit way towards adult

Physical signs can include – sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, injuries to genitals, pain when walking or sitting down

Neglect: The physical signs of neglect may include-constant hunger, sometimes stealing food from other children, constantly dirty or ‘smelly’ loss of weight, or being constantly underweight

inappropriate clothing for the conditions.

Behavioural changes can include-complaining of being tired all the time, not requesting medical assistance and/or failing to attend appointments, having few friends, mentioning being left alone or unsupervised.

What to do

If the situation is an emergency you must dial 999. The police have the power to intervene if a child is in immediate danger.

Children who report abuse must be listened to and heard; whatever form their attempts to communicate their worries may take. The following points are a guide should a child make a disclosure.

The child should be listened to but not interviewed or asked to repeat the account. Avoid questions, particularly leading questions. ‘Listened to’ means just that; on no account should suggestions be made to children as to alternative explanations for their worries.

The child should not be interrupted when recalling significant events.

Ensure that the child understands that you cannot keep the disclosure a secret and may need to tell the Safeguarding Officer.

All information should be noted carefully, including details such as timing, setting, who was present and what was said, in the child’s own words. The account obtained should be recorded verbatim or as near as possible.

Care should be taken not to make assumptions about what the child is saying or to make interpretations.

The written record of the disclosure should be signed and dated by the person who received them as soon as practicable. An accurate record of all that has happened must be made, stating the facts of any injury, times, explanation and action taken. It should note carefully what they have observed, and when they observed it. Signs of physical injury should be described in detail. Any comment by the child concerned, or by an adult who might be the abuser, about how an injury occurred should be recorded; preferably quoting the words actually used as soon as possible after the comment has been made.

This should then be given to the Safeguarding Officer who will take necessary action and store documents securely