Safeguarding adults
Tackling abuse
All organisations in Kensington and Chelsea are committed to preventing the abuse of adults and
responding promptly when abuse is suspected.
The following will tell you what to do and who to contact if you
or someone you know is a person who is vulnerable and is
being abused.
Who is a vulnerable adult?
A vulnerable adult is a person aged 18 years or over who may
be unable to take care of themselves, or protect themselves
from harm or from being exploited. This may be because they
have a mental health problem, a disability, a sensory
impairment, are old and frail, or have some form of illness.
What is adult abuse?
Abuse can be defined as the mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group, often resulting in a violation of human and civil rights. The abuse can vary from treating someone in a disrespectful way which significantly affects the person’s quality of life, to causing actual physical suffering.
Abuse can happen anywhere – in a person’s home, in a residential or nursing home, a hospital, in the workplace, at a day centre or educational establishment, in supported housing or in the street.
Forms of abuse:
- physical abuse such as hitting, pushing, pinching, shaking,
misusing medication, scalding, restraint, hair pulling.
- sexual abuse such as rape, sexual assault, or sexual acts to
which the vulnerable adult has not or could not have
consented, or to which they were pressurised into consenting.
- psychological or emotional abuse such as threats of harm or
abandonment, being deprived of social or any other form of
contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion,
harassment, verbal abuse, being prevented from receiving
services or support.
- financial or material abuse such as theft, fraud or exploitation,
pressure in connection with wills, property, or inheritance,
misuse of property, possessions or benefits.
- neglect such as ignoring medical or physical care needs
and preventing access to health, social care or educational
services or withholding the necessities of life such as food,
drink and heating.
- discriminatory abuse such as that based on race or sexuality
or a person’s disability and other forms of harassment or slurs.
- institutional abuse can sometimes happen in residential
homes, nursing homes or hospitals when people are mistreated
because of poor or inadequate care, neglect and poor practice
that affects the whole of that service.
Any of these forms of abuse can be either deliberate or be the
result of ignorance, or lack of training, knowledge or
understanding. Often if a person is being abused in one way
they are also being abused in other ways.
Who might be causing the abuse?
The person who is responsible for the abuse is very often well
known to the person being mistreated or exploited and could be:
- a paid carer or volunteer
- a health worker, social care or other worker
- a relative, friend or neighbour
- another resident or service user
- an occasional visitor or someone who is providing a service
- people who deliberately exploit vulnerable people
- an unpaid carer
- another vulnerable adult
What do you do if you are being abused or you
suspect that someone you know may be the victim
of abuse?
You should contact one of the numbers below as
soon as possible.
Your concerns will be taken seriously and will receive
prompt attention.
What if the abuse is also a crime?
If the abuse is also a crime such as assault, racial harassment,
rape or theft you should involve the police to prevent someone
else from being abused. If the police are involved we will work
with them and with you to support you.
If you are worried about contacting the police you can contact social services to talk things over first, but if the person is immediate danger you should call the emergency services by dialling 999.
What will happen if abuse is reported?
If you have contacted social services or a community mental health team because you are being abused or mistreated, a member of staff will come and talk to you as quickly as possible.
If you are contacting us about someone else, we will contact them as soon as possible.
Your concerns will be taken seriously. This may involve other agencies
- if there is immediate danger we will aim to visit you or the
person about whom you are concerned straight away
- if there is a significant risk of harm we will aim to visit
within 24 hours
- for other reports of abuse we will normally visit within
five working days
The person dealing with the report will work with you, or the person about whom you contacted us, to help make any decisions. They will provide help and support in taking action to try to end the abuse and ensure that it does not happen again.
You may want someone to contact us on your behalf and to
nominate someone to speak and act for you.
We will not normally do anything or share information with other people without the permission of the person who is being abused. The only exception to this is in situations where others may be at risk of abuse or the person is not able to make their own decisions because of mental disability.
Contact numbers
If you or the person you are concerned about lives in Kensington and Chelsea call:
Kensington and Chelsea Social Servicesline. The line is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. If you need help outside of these hours, please call the Emergency Duty Team |
020 7361 3013
socialservices@rbkc.gov.uk
Emergency Duty Team: 020 7373 2227 |
| Hospital Teams |
St Charles 020 8206 7148
St Mary’s 020 7886 6533
Chelsea and Westminster 020 8746 8788
Royal Brompton and Harefield 020 7351 4736
Royal Marsden 020 7808 2481 |
| North (Teams A, B and C) |
020 8206 6900 |
| South |
020 8206 6500 |
Police
Local Police Station |
Chelsea police station
Kensington police station
Notting Hill Gate police station
|
| Community Safety Unit |
020 8246 0226 |
| In an Emergency |
999 |
|
If your concern is about someone who is in a residential or nursing home:
| Commission for Social Care Inspection |
020 8735 6370 |
| Westminster Primary Care Trust |
020 7725 3333 |
| NHS Kensington and Chelsea |
020 8962 4845 |
|
If your concern is about someone who is in hospital:
| Central and North West London Mental Health Trust |
020 8237 2000 |
| St Mary’s |
020 7886 6666 |
| Chelsea and Westminster |
020 8746 8000 |
| St Charles |
020 8969 2488 |
| The Royal Brompton and Harefield |
020 7352 8121 |
| The Royal Marsden |
020 7352 8171 |
Action on Elder Abuse – RESPONSE LINE
available Monday - Friday 10.00am - 4.30pm |
080 8808 8141 |
RESPOND Help Line
for people with learning disabilities |
0808 808 0700 |
|
In an emergency always call 999
Safeguarding adults
Multi-agency Policy and Procedures
A London-wide policy is expected later this year.
Adult Protection Induction Tool Kit
Contact numbers and addresses
Other leaflets
Questions
If you have any questions about the policy and procedures please email: Safeguarding Adults Coordinator
Amendments and corrections to Summary
Document September 2004