Thank you for listening to this short podcast on behalf of the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board. Today, I will be giving you information about safeguarding early warning signs, types of abuse and, how you can refer any safeguarding concerns you may have.
So, firstly, what are early warning signs?
These are the first signs and symptoms that suggest something isn't right. Early signs of abuse or neglect can vary depending on the type of abuse or neglect that is happening and may only occur at a low level, so just a small change. Whether you are a family member, friend, professional or member of the public, it is important to notice and react to these early warning signs by reporting your concerns to West Sussex County Council. Your early reporting could help reduce the risk of abuse or neglect continuing or worsening.
So, what does care and support needs mean?
Safeguarding is about helping adults with care and support needs who may be unable to protect themselves from abuse and neglect, whilst making sure they are able to be as independent as possible and make choices about how they want to live. A person with care and support needs may need help with various tasks such as washing and dressing, eating and drinking, or going out in the community. There may be times when adults with care and support needs need safeguarding to help protect them from abuse and neglect and promote their health, safety, and well-being.
Abuse or neglect can happen once or multiple times. It can be caused by anyone; someone known to the adult with care and support needs, such as a family member or friend, another adult with support needs, a professional, or a stranger. It can happen anywhere, including a person’s own home, a care home, health setting, or in a public place.
There are ten different categories of abuse that adults may experience. Within West Sussex the most reported category of abuse is neglect and/or acts of omission. This could involve ignoring a person’s needs, or not providing the person with essential things to meet their needs, such as medication, food, water, shelter, and warmth. Sometimes this could be a deliberate act but also because of not understanding someone’s needs.
Other categories of abuse include; physical abuse, financial abuse, phycological abuse, sexual abuse, self-neglect, organisational abuse, domestic abuse, discriminatory abuse, and modern slavery. Further details about these categories of abuse and examples can be found in the learning briefing and recorded presentation accompanying this podcast.
So now you know about what early warning signs are and the types of abuse, what are some of the early warning signs you can look out for?
These could be a change in:
- Mood, such as appearing depressed, more withdrawn or angry, having low self-esteem or feeling insecure.
- Routine, such as going out more or less, missing work or other events or, not being able to manage responsibilities or commitments.
- Finances, such as having more or less money, personal and or household items or missing possessions.
- Appearance, such as wearing different types of clothes and make-up, appearing not to have showered or to have clean clothes.
- Health, such as losing or gaining weight, changes in sleep pattern, new anxiety related issues, for example stomach pain, headaches or unexplained incontinence.
Other warning signs also include;
- a development of or increase in anxiety or stress such as more calls to services or family about issues previously not of concern.
- visits by unknown people such as; frequent visits from trades people or unknown groups of people visiting at day or night.
- a concerning change in home environment such as, an increase in clutter and/or the home appearing unclean or the destruction of property and/or possessions.
- refusal to have a contact with a friend, family member, neighbour, carer or professional known to the person.
So, what should you do if you are concerned that an adult with care and support needs may be experiencing abuse or neglect?
You should ask the person if they agree to the concern being reported unless this increases the risk to them or you. We ask that you do this to make sure that the adult is kept fully involved, right from the start. This is known as making safeguarding personal and we have further information about this on our website.
Not all adults are able to agree to a concern for a range of reasons including that they may have difficulties with understanding information. This could make them more vulnerable so, please do always report a concern you have even if you have not been able to speak with the person. Your early reporting to West Sussex County Council is so important to help reduce the risk of abuse or neglect continuing or worsening.
If you have access to the Internet, the best way is to report a concern is by using the online safeguarding form via www.westsussex.gov.uk. If you need to talk with someone, you can call 01243 642121 or 03302 228400 if you are a professional. Professionals can also check the Safeguarding Thresholds guidance available on our website for advice. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 999 and, if a criminal offence has been committed that does not need an immediate response, please call 101.
If you are interested in learning more about Safeguarding, please visit our website: www.westsussexsab.org.uk. We also have lots of resources for your use. You can find them all on our ‘Resources’ page on our website. These include:
- Making Safeguarding Personal leaflet
- Easy-read safeguarding leaflet
- A selection of posters
Thank you for your time to listen to this podcast and we appreciate you supporting us to make a real difference for those who we are supporting in West Sussex.