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?
What is adult abuse?
forms of abuse
Who might be causing the abuse?
What do you do if you are being abused or you suspect that someone you know may be the victim of abuse?
What if the abuse is also a crime?
What will happen if abuse is reported?
contact numbers

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:
Social Services	contact number
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
Community Mental Health Teams	contact number
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:
service	contact number
Commission for Social Care Inspection	020 8735 6370
Health agencies
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