Safegurarding And Protecting Vulnerable Individuals

1.0   The concepts of safeguarding and protection 

 The concept of safeguarding is established by the care Act 2014.  The Act provided that all those working in health and social care setting has legal responsibilities of keeping the people for whom they care away from abuse, harm, or neglect.  According to the act, safeguarding should be provided to; 1) individuals requiring care and support, 2) who are experiencing risks of abuse or harm, and, 3) who are unable to protect themselves from abuse, harm, or neglect. Therefore, safeguarding can be referred to all the measures taken by a care organization, agency, or health and social care professionals to ensure the rights, health, and well-being of vulnerable individuals are protected against potential harm or neglect (Gibson et al, 2016).   The main aim of safeguarding is to ensure the vulnerable individuals within health and social care settings are protected against abuse, harm, or neglect which can cause a negative impact on their wellbeing and health as well as deny them their rights (Collins, 2009). 

 On the other hand, protection is a part of safeguarding. While safeguarding is proactive in nature in that it aims to prevent harm and abuse against vulnerable individuals, protection is the activity of protecting the vulnerable individuals who are suffering or are likely to suffer from significant harms as a result of abuse or neglect (Pritchard & Firm, 2008).  Therefore, protection aims to aim at shielding those who are suffering or likely to suffer harm as a result of abuse or neglect. 

 2.0. Information about the legislative framework for safeguarding vulnerable individuals in health and social care

 There exist a number of legislative frameworks for safeguarding vulnerable individuals in health and social care.  These legal frameworks aim to ensure that the rights, welfares, health, and wellbeing of vulnerable individuals are always promoted and safeguarded in the health and social care setting.  They include; 

 The Care Act 2014- This is one of the most recent legal frameworks for safeguarding vulnerable individuals within health and social care. The Act establishes legal responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable individuals as well as defines those who should be at the center of the safeguarding. According to the Act, local authorities have the onus of protecting and safeguarding individuals. It also mandates the local authorities to work in partnership with relevant others to ensure they safeguard and protect vulnerable individuals. In addition, the Act requires those also require all those working in health and social care to ensure they keep people who they care for, away from abuse and neglect. The Act also specifies that safeguarding should be provided to 1) those seeking care and support, 2) Those who are at risk of harm from abuse and neglect and 3) those who are not able to protect themselves.  Therefore, the act not only establishes legal responsibilities for safeguarding but also specify who the safeguarding effort should be directed to. 

 The mental capacity Act 2005 is yet another legal framework for safeguarding vulnerable individuals.  The Act establishes several principles which are meant to ensure that vulnerable individuals are protected and safeguarded. One of the principles established by the act is the presumption of capacity. According to this principle, health and social care professionals should always have considered vulnerable individuals as having the mental capacity to make their own decision unless proven otherwise. This principle is meant to ensure that the health and social care professionals do not impose their ways on the vulnerable individuals but instead, service is delivered according to the clients' wishes and preferences.  The act also establishes the others principle including support to make decisions, the ability to make an unwise decision, to act in the best interest and in the least restrictive way. All these principles are meant to ensure that vulnerable individuals' health and wellbeing is protected by ensuring their rights, preferences, and need are met while at that no harm is caused to them in the course of delivering services.

 The human right Act 1998, also provide a legal framework for safeguarding vulnerable individuals. Even though the Act was developed to ensure that everyone has the right that is protected, there are some of the rights which are critical in the safeguarding of vulnerable individuals.  Article 2 of the Act ‘protect the right to life’ helps ensure that vulnerable individuals' right to life is protected. It is meant to ensure that even vulnerable individuals are protected against all potential harms that threaten their life.  Article 3 of the Act provides individuals should be ‘afforded freedom from degrading and inhumane treatment”. This article safeguards vulnerable individuals by ensuring that they are not degraded or treated in a human way by the services and those caring for them. The article provides a legal responsibility to health and social care professionals to ensure that vulnerable people are treated properly in a humane, respectable, and socially and morally acceptable manner. Article 4 provides that individuals should be guaranteed the right to private life, family, and home life. Again this article is critical in the safeguarding of vulnerable individuals as it encourages them to be empowered to live a private life, on their own or a homely environment rather than institutionalized. As such, the article ensures that vulnerable individuals are protected by ensuring their rights, preferences, and need are always respected and promoted by those who cares and support them. 

3.0 An analysis of how serious case reviews have influenced safeguarding and protection

 serious case reviews have been part of the health and social care sector for some time. Whenever a case of negligent or serious harm occurs in the health and social care setting, it is reviewed to understand what went wrong, who failed in their responsibility, and what could be done in the future to prevent such incidents from happening again.  As such serious case reviews play an important role in the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable individuals within health and social care settings.  First, the serious case reviews contribute to safeguarding and protecting vulnerable individuals by letting the health and social care professionals within the health and social care setting learn from the previous mistake, near misses, or incidents that lead to harm as a result of abuse or neglect (SCIE, 2019). In other words, the serious case reviews give the health and social care professionals the opportunity to learn from the previous mistake, near missed or incidents that compromised the health and wellbeing of vulnerable individuals. 

 Secondly, the serious case reviews also help improve the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable individuals through recommending changes that lead to improvement in services.  In most cases, serious case reviews usually provide a recommendation of what needs to be improved so as to prevent similar incidents from occurring. They help point out the weakness in the health and social care services and systems that lead to the incidents, and which need to be addressed to make the services even better for vulnerable individuals.  Such recommendations help improve the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable individuals within health and social care services through improved services (Sidebotham, 2011). 

Action to be taken in the event of suspected or actual abuse.

 The health and social care professionals have a legal responsibility of ensuring the vulnerable individuals under their care are safeguarded and protected. As such, in the event that health or social care professionals suspect a potential abuse or neglect against a vulnerable individual, they should act swiftly to protect the vulnerable individuals. Below are some of the actions that health or social care professionals should take when they suspect potential abuse or neglect of vulnerable individuals. 

As noted by Pritchard & Firm (2008), it is also important to listen to the abused person keenly without judging.  This would help them open more about the abuse and hence provide adequate information that would help to understand the abuse and hence take the necessary steps. 

 The health and wellbeing of the vulnerable individuals are paramount and as such, in the event of suspected abuse or neglect, the health and social care professionals should first attend to the immediate need of the individuals and ensure they are safe from further abuse (Pritchard & Firm, 2008). 

 Once the immediate needs of the vulnerable individuals are taken care of and the individuals are safe from further abuse or neglect, the case needs to be reported to the relevant person e.g. manager or police officers (Pritchard & Firm, 2008; Boland et al., 2014).   

The health or social care workers would also need to make notes and write a report about the facts. This will help in documentation as well as in providing information for further action to be taken. 

5.0 Information on signs and symptoms of abuse

Abuse is a general term that is used to refer to different types of abuses that vulnerable individuals might face. The different type of abuse includes physical abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, discrimination, and institutional abuse.  Each of these forms of abuse is different and has different symptoms. As such, it is critical that health and social care professionals are able to identify the symptoms and signs associated with each type of abuse.  The table below shows the signs and symptoms associated with each form or type of abuse

6.0 Measures to be taken to avoid abuse taking place

 Avoiding abuse taking place should be a priority of every health and social care professional.  There are several ways in which health and social care professionals can achieve this. These includes. 

 Personal-centered care and support- The first measure that should be implemented to avoid abuse from taking place in the adoption of person-centered care. Person-centered care and support help health and social care professionals to value and see those under care and support as individuals that require respect and dignity. As noted by Starns (2019), the person-centered approach helps professionals within health and social care setting to see beyond the conditions of the individuals under their care. As a result, they can see the service users as a person who deserves respect, dignity and who have rights that need to be protected and promoted.  This play a significant role in influencing how the health and social care professionals interact, relate, and treat the vulnerable individuals under their care (Starns, 2019)   As a result of viewing them beyond their conditions, health and social care professionals are able to treat vulnerable individuals with respect, dignity, and promote their right which is critical in ensuring no abuse take place.  As noted by Macintyre et al., (20180, the person-centered approach also improved the relationship between service users and health and social care professionals which makes it possible to communicate and share information about potential abuses, and hence protective measures are adopted before abuse occur. 

Promoting choices and rights- one way in which health and social care professionals can prevent abuse from taking place is by promoting choice and the rights of vulnerable individuals under their care. As noted by Starns (2019), there is a close connection between dependency and abuse. The more vulnerable individuals’ dependent on others to make decisions and choices for them, the more likelihood of abuse occurring. As such, when the vulnerable users are empowered to make their own choices, the dependency on others reduces significantly hence reducing the probability of abuse from taking place. For example; vulnerable individuals who are dependent on others to make a financial decision for them are likely to experience financial abuses. However, if such vulnerable individuals are empowered to make their own financial decision, they gain better control over the management of their finances and hence reduce chances or opportunities for financial abuse.  Equally, when the rights of individuals are promoted such as rights to independence, rights to privacy, rights to life, etc., The opportunities for abuses taking place are minimized. 

 Encouraging active participation – another important measure in preventing abuse from taking place is by encouraging active participation of service users. As noted by Macintyre et al., (2018), by encouraging service users to be active participants rather than passive recipients of services, the service users are able to influence the way the service is being planned and delivered. In most cases, this ensures that service is being delivered according to their preferences and needs.  This helps prevent abuses such as those that result from improper use of restrictive practice etc.  As noted by Macintyre et al., (2018) when service users become active participants in their care and supports, they reduce their vulnerability to abuse by improving their self-confidence, esteem, and self-awareness. 

 7.0 Practice that maintains the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals

 The safety and protection of vulnerable individuals within a care home setting are critical.  To achieve it is important to have a practice that ensures the safety and protection of the vulnerable is guaranteed. such practices include;

• Following the care Act 2014

The care Act 2014 has established a good legal framework that ensures the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals is integrated into the day-to-day operation of a health and social care setting. The act has established six principles of safeguarding which are empowerment, partnership, protection, proportionality, prevention, and accountability.   Following these principles and integrating them into the day-to-day operation of a health and social care setting would lead to practice that maintains the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals. For instance, by empowering service users to be advocated for by the care act 2014, one would reduce their vulnerability to abuse and neglect by improving their involvement in decision making, improving their self-confidence, and so on. Equally, by implementing the principle of partnership by establishing partnership working relationships with others, a health or social care setting is able to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable individuals as well as ensure they are protected.   Furthermore, implementing the principle of prevention mean that a health and social care setting would be proactive in establishing measures to protect vulnerable individuals. Therefore, following the care Act 2014 and more specifically implementing the six principles of safeguarding would help establish a practice that maintains the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals. 

• Raising safeguarding concerns

At one point or the other, safeguarding concerns might arise. When such concern arises, it is important that workers or service users know the procedure or whom to raise the concern to. As such, to establish a practice that maintains the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals, it is important that a health and social care setting establish procedures and a safety mechanism for raising the concern. Such procedures need to be easy to use and accessible by both the service users and the workers.

On the other hand, as a health and social care professional, once safeguarding issues have been noted, it is important to carry out an initial assessment, ensure immediate safety and wellbeing of individuals as well follow the laid procedures to handle and report the incidents. This would ensure that all safeguarding concerns are not left unaddressed which might later manifest into the case of abuse or neglect (Macintyre et al., 2018). Therefore, establishing safeguarding concern reporting procedures is one of the practices that ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals is maintained. 

• Training and development of workforce 

Finally, training and development of the staff are also critical in ensuring a practice that maintains the safety and protection of vulnerable individuals. To a large extent, the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable individuals are influenced by the skills and knowledge of the workforce.  A workforce that is well knowledgeable and has skills in the matter to do with safeguarding and protection is likely to create act or behave in a manner that promotes service users' wellbeing and safety (Macintyre et al., 2018). Therefore, to establish a practice that maintains the safety and protection of the vulnerable individual, it is important to train and develop the workforce to ensure they have up-to-date knowledge and skills relating to safeguarding and protection. 

 Task 2

1 An explanation of the agreed protocols for working in partnership.

 The Care Act 2014 make it a statutory requirement for health and social care organizations, agencies, professional and local authority to work in partnership with others to safeguard and protect vulnerable individuals (Braye & Preston-Shoot, 2019).  As a result of this, wester field care home has established partnership working relationships with others including GP, Lloyd pharmacy among others.  To ensure such partnership working is effective, met its intended objectives, and is done in line with legal requirements, wester field care home has established an agreed protocol with its partners. The agreed protocol that Westfield care home has established together with its partners includes the Lloyd pharmacy and GP generally talks about the rule of engagement between the partners. The rule of engagements established focus on an area such as patients’ confidentiality, partners’ responsibilities, and sharing of information. Some of the rules of engagement in the agreed protocol with Lloyd pharmacy and GP are as follows. 

• Information about service users’ medication will be shared using the medication management system i.e., med-e-care.
• The pharmacy and the GP must feed any changes to the service users' medication into the medication management systems.
• Confidential information to be shared and used only when needed.
• Any use or transfer of confidential information must be justified and documents.
• Access to any service users’ related information is strictly on a need-to-know basis. 
• The use and transfer of information must comply with the law.
• Service users will be informed when and how their confidential information is used.
• Partners who get access to confidential information has the legal responsibility to safeguard and protect such information. 
• The information transferred or accessed for the purpose of service delivery will not be used for any other purpose other than what it was transferred to serve. 

 The above is contained in the agreed protocol between wester filed care home and Lloyd pharmacies and the GPs that the care homework in partnership with. As it can be noted, the agreed protocol aims to ensure that all the partners have agreed and shared understanding in relation to their working relationship. 

2 An evaluation of the importance of working in partnership with others in relation to safeguarding.

 Safeguarding and protecting vulnerable individuals can be better achieved through working in partnership.  The care Act 2014 recognize the importance of working in partnership working in safeguarding vulnerable individuals and as a result, it has made it a statutory requirement for health and social care organizations, agencies, professionals to work in partnership with relevant others to safeguard vulnerable individuals (Braye & Preston-Shoot, 2019).   Westerfield care home to understand the importance of working in partnership with others in safeguarding and protecting vulnerable individuals.  As a result, it has established a partnership working with Lloyd pharmacy and GP.  The partnership with the Lloyd pharmacy and the GPs is meant to ensure that service users under its care and support are safeguarded and protected against potential harms. For instance, Through the partnership with the Lloyd pharmacy and the GPs, Westerfield care home ensures that service users are protected against wrong medication as the partnership working has resulted in sharing of medication information through a medication management system where both the GPs and the pharmacy feed information about service users prescribed medication. This has gone a long way in improving the administration of service users’ medication and hence eliminating errors that might lead to harm. 

 Equally, The Westfield care home also works in partnership with GP. This working relationship is critical as it ensures that service users are able to access GP any time they want without having to move out of the service.  As such, the partnership working with the GP not only provides service users with conveniences but also ensures their health and wellbeing needs are attended to as needed.  This has helped improve the health and wellbeing of the service users in the service and hence safeguarding and protecting them from potential harms such as unattended health conditions etc. 

3. An assessment of the importance of the involvement of individuals in the reviews of systems and procedures in services

 The UK legislation and policies governing the health and social care sector have encouraged the involvement of service users in planning, implementation, and reviews of the care.  The care Act 2014, the health and social care Act 2012, the Francis report 2013, the NHS Constitution for England, 2014 among others have all encouraged the involvement of service user planning, implementation, and reviews of the care. Therefore, one of the areas where health and social care organizations should involve service users is in the reviews of systems and procedures in services. There are several importance of doing so. First, involving service users in the review of policy and procedures in services is in line with the general aspiration of the current legislation and policies governing health and social care sectors. 

Secondly, previous studies have found a linkage between service users’ involvement and improvement in services. In one study conducted by Omeni et al., (2014), it was found out that when service users are involved in planning, implementation, and reviews of services, the overall quality of services improved. In their study, Bombard et al., (2018), also reported that involvement of services users in planning and reviews of services lead to a number of benefits including improved quality of services, service users’ satisfaction with the services, and improved health outcome. NHS England (2017) Also notes that service users know what works best for them and as such when they are involved in the reviews of policies and procedures, they are able to provide useful insights that lead to improvement and hence services that easily meet their needs. Therefore, involving services users in reviewing policies and procedures is important as it helps lead to improvement in services. This, therefore, mean that Wester field care home has the opportunity to continuously improve on its services by involving service users in reviews of the policies and procedure.

4 Review a work setting’s procedures and practice against current legislation and policy in relation to safeguarding and protecting vulnerable individuals.

 The current legislation and policies in relation to safeguarding vulnerable individuals in health and social care settings have established several regulatory or legal requirements that health care organizations must meet.  To ensure such requirements are integrated into the day-to-day operation, Westerfield care home has adopted several practices and procedures. To begin with, the current legislation and policies for safeguarding and protecting vulnerable individuals require health and social cares agencies to work in partnership with relevant others to ensure effective safeguarding and protection of vulnerable individuals (Braye & Preston-Shoot, 2019).  Westerfield care home has ensured its practice is in line with such requirements. Currently, the care home has established partnership working relationships with others including GPs and Lloyd pharmacy. Such partnership working has enabled Westfield to care home be able to ensure all the service users' need are met and hence their health and wellbeing is promoted and well protected. 

 The health and social care act 2012 and other national policies require that service users are involved in the decision-making concerning their care.  This requirement is well reflected in the current practice at Westerfield care home. The Westerfield care home has adopted a person-centered approach to the delivery of services whereby individuals are always placed in the center of services delivery. As a result, individuals are usually consulted and empowered to make decisions on their own, especially those involving their care and support. For instance, individuals are empowered to make choices and select services needed based on their preferences. This has ensured that service users are active participants in their care and support rather than passive recipients of services. 

 The care Act 2014 has created principles of safeguarding vulnerable individuals. These principles are empowerment, protection, prevention, partnership, accountability, and proportionality.  Westfield care home practices and policies promote this principle. To start with, the care home has fully embraced the partnership working approach. It is currently working in partnership with GPs and Lloyd pharmacies to improve the medications and hence protect the service users from poor medication administrations. Such practice not only promote partnership working but also amount to proactive measures of protecting the service users from potential harms that might be caused by poor medication administration. Second, the care home has adopted the person-centered approach to care and support. One of the key elements of the person-centered approach used by the care home is the empowerment of service users. Under the person-centered approach, Wester field care home focuses on empowering its service users to make their own decision and live as independently as possible.  This is in line with the principle of empowerment established by the care Act 2014.  Protection is yet another key principle established in the care Act 2014. The wester field care home has adopted practices and policies that ensure vulnerable individuals under its care are protected. For instance, the care home has more than once organized training for it staffs especially on safeguarding and protecting individuals. During such training, individuals learn how to identify signs of abuse. The care home also has in place the safeguarding policy in place which guides the actions of the staff and hence improving protection and safeguarding practice. It also has a number of other preventive measures in place. For instance, it has adopted the use of a medication management system whereby pharmacies and GPs feed information about service users’ medication. This helps reduce errors related to drug administration. It also has confidentiality and privacy policies that ensure service users' confidential information is not misused in a manner that can result to harm. It also has a complaint procedure that helps service users to report anything they feel goes against their wishes or need. such complaints procedure helps detect potential abuse in advance and hence taking the necessary actions.