Safegaurding Adults Policy

Aims

Animal Antiks operates an alternative day provision for adults facing various challenges in their lives.

This policy outlines the steps we will make to safeguard an adult with care and support needs if they are deemed to be at risk. It also sets out our roles and responsibilities in working together with other professionals and agencies in promoting the adult’s welfare and safeguarding them from abuse and neglect.

We will not tolerate the abuse of adults in any of its forms and are committed to safeguarding adults with care and support needs from harm. See Appendix 1 for the main types of adult abuse.

We will ensure that decisions made will allow adults to make their own choices and we will include them in any decision making. We will also ensure that safe and effective working practices are in place.

This policy is intended to support employees and volunteers working within the Company to understand their role and responsibilities in safeguarding adults. All employees and volunteers are expected to follow this policy.

The key objectives of this policy are for all employees and volunteers of the Company to:

• have an overview of adult safeguarding
• be clear about their responsibility to safeguard adults
• ensure the necessary actions are taken where an adult with care and support needs is deemed to be at risk

This policy is based on The Care Act 2014, the Care and Support statutory guidance and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

Under the Human Rights Act 1998, everyone has the right to live free from abuse and neglect.

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights/human-rights-act

Copies of this policy are included in the Employee Handbook in the Kitchen and in the Employee and Volunteer Induction Handbooks which are given out to new employees/volunteers on their first day with us. Additional copies are available on request.

What is Safeguarding adults?

‘Safeguarding means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances.’

Care and Support Statutory Guidance, Department of Health, updated April 2021

All adults should be able to live free from fear and harm, but some may find it hard to get the help and support they need to stop abuse.

An adult may be unable to protect themselves from harm or exploitation due to many reasons, including their mental or physical incapacity, sensory loss or physical or learning disabilities. This could be an adult who is usually able to protect themselves from harm but may be unable to do so because of an accident, disability, frailty, addiction or illness.

Safeguarding principles

We adhere to following the six key principles that underpin safeguarding work (See Care Act guidance)

• Empowerment
• Prevention
• Proportionality
• Protection
• Partnership
• Accountability

All employees and volunteers should ensure that their work reflects the principles above and ensure the adult with care and support needs is involved in their decisions and informed consent is obtained.

We wil ensure that the safeguarding action agreed is the least intrusive response to the risk. Partners from the community should be involved in any safeguarding work in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse. We will be transparent and accountable in delivering safeguarding actions.

What is Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP)?

MSP means a case should be person-led and outcome-focused. The individual should be involved in identifying how best to respond to their safeguarding situation by giving them more choice and control as well as improving quality of life, well-being and safety.

We will ensure that adults are involved in their safeguarding arrangements and each individual is dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Because adults may have different preferences, histories and life-styles, the same process may not work for all.

Who do adult safeguarding duties apply to?

The Care Act 2014 sets out that adult safeguarding duties apply to any adult who:

• has care and support needs, and
• is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse and neglect, and
• is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect, because of those needs.

Who do I go to if I am concerned?

The named responsible person for safeguarding duties is Sarah Kettlety. In the absence of Sarah, please speak to Dave Gobran. The Trustee with responsibility for safeguarding is Donna Daniels-Moss.

All employees and volunteers should contact Sarah for any concerns/queries they have in regard to safeguarding adults. A log of the concern must be kept. Sarah will be responsible for making decisions about notifying adult social services, if required, and considering alternative actions where necessary. Sarah will also ensure that the safeguarding adults policies and procedures are in place and up-to-date. She will ensure a safe environment is promoted for employees, volunteers and adults accessing the service. Sarah will ensure they are up to date with their safeguarding adults training.

What should I do if I am concerned?

Respond

• Take emergency action if someone is at immediate risk of harm/in need of urgent medical attention. Dial 999 for emergency services.
• Get brief details about what has happened and what the adult would like done about it, but do not probe or conduct a mini investigation.
• Seek consent from the adult to take action and to report the concern. Consider whether the adult may lack capacity to make decisions about their own and other people’s safety and well-being. If you decide to act against their wishes or without their consent, you must record your decision and the reasons for this.

Report

• Employees/volunteers need to report any potential safeguarding concerns to designated safeguarding lead (see details above).

Record

• Initially the concerns should be noted in our daily diaries, but you may be required by the designated safeguarding lead to write additional notes.
• As far as possible, records should be written contemporaneously, dated and signed.
• Keep records about safeguarding concerns confidential and in a location where the alleged abuser will not have access to the record. Access should not be given to any unauthorised personal for accessing confidential information including the sharing of passwords.

Refer

In making a decision whether to refer or not, the designated safeguarding lead should take into account:

• the adult’s wishes and preferred outcome
• whether the adult has mental capacity to make an informed decision about their own and others’ safety
• the safety or wellbeing of children or other adults with care and support needs
• whether there is a person in a position of trust involved
• whether a crime has been committed

This should inform the decision whether to notify the concern to the following people:

• the police if a crime has been committed and/or
• relevant regulatory bodies such as Charities commission
• service commissioning teams
• family/relatives as appropriate (seek advice from adult social services)

The designated safeguarding lead should keep a record of the reasons for referring the concern or reasons for not referring.

Incidents of abuse may be one-off or multiple and may affect one person or more. Employees and volunteers should look beyond single incidents to identify patterns of harm. Accurate recording of information will also assist in recognising any patterns.

As soon as Adult Social Services becomes involved, a 4-stage safeguarding adults process is followed.

Disclosure of Abuse

If an adult discloses to you that abuse or inappropriate behaviour has/may be/is taking place, you should:

• Listen to the adult. Allow them to tell you what has happen in their own way, and at their own pace. Do not interrupt a adult who is freely recalling significant events
• Remain calm. Be reassuring and supportive but try not to respond emotionally
• Do not ask leading questions. Only ask questions if you are seeking clarification about something they have said. Use TED; Tell, Explain, Describe
• When you are able to, make an accurate record of what you have been told, taking care to note any times, dates or locations mentioned. Use the adult’s own words where possible. Do not substitute anatomically correct names for body part names used by the adult
• Reassure the adult that they did the right thing in telling someone and you are glad they told you. Reassure the adult that they have not done anything wrong
• Do not promise to keep their disclosure a secret, but reassure the adult that you will only share the information with the right people who will be able to help them. Explain what you will do next
• At your earliest opportunity, speak to your Safeguarding Lead regarding the disclosure. If your Safeguarding Lead and deputy Safeguarding Lead are not available, ring First Response for advice

If there is immediate risk of harm to a child DO NOT DELAY, ring 999

Roles and responsibilities

All employees, management, trustees and volunteers are expected to report any concerns to the named person for safeguarding.

If the allegation is against one of our members, volunteers, Trustees or Directors, seek advice from Sarah Kettlety (Mobile 07543276818 or Out of Hours Answer Service 01296 670996). If the allegation is against the safeguarding leads, then the Safeguarding Trustee (Donna Daniels-Moss) should be contacted.

The designated safeguarding adults lead is responsible for providing acknowledgement of the referral and brief feedback to the person raising the original concern. Feedback should be given in a way that will not make the situation worse or breach the GDPR. If the police are involved, they should be consulted prior to giving feedback to the referrer to ensure any criminal investigation is not affected.

The local authority will decide on who will lead on a safeguarding enquiry should it progress to that stage. We will not conduct our own safeguarding enquiry unless instructed to do so by the local authority.

Employees and volunteers should ensure that the adult with care and support needs is involved at all stages of their safeguarding enquiry ensuring a person-centred approach is adopted.

Complaints procedure

We promote transparency and honesty when things go wrong. All employees and volunteers should apologise and be honest with members and other relevant people when thing go wrong.

If an employee, volunteer or any other member of the Company is unhappy with our decision about the safeguarding concern then they can refer to the Complaints Policy.

We are committed to ensuring that employees and volunteers who, in good faith, whistle-blow in the public interest, will be protected from reprisals and victimisation. Please refer to the Whistleblowing Policy for further information.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is to be used when decisions on behalf of those adults with care and support needs who are unable to make some decisions for themselves. Refer to the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice

You will need to involve an advocate if the person lacks capacity to make decisions about the safeguarding concern.

Why is it important to take action?

It is may be difficult for adults with care and support needs to protect themselves and to report abuse. They rely on you to help them.

Confidentiality and information sharing

We expect all employees, volunteers and Trustees to maintain confidentiality at all times. In line with the General Data Protection Regulations, we do not share information if not required.

It should however be noted that information could be shared with authorities if an adult is deemed to be at risk of immediate harm. Sharing the right information, at the right time, with the right people can make all the difference to preventing harm.

For further guidance:
https://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/safeguarding-adults/sharing-information/keymessages.asp

Recruitment and selection

We are committed to safe employment. Safe recruitment practices, such as Disclosure and Barring checks reduce the risk of exposing adults with care and support needs to people unsuitable to work with them. Refer to the Safer Recruitment Policy for further information.

Training, awareness and supervision

We ensure that all employees and volunteers receive basic awareness training on safeguarding adults because they may come across adults with care and support needs who may be at risk of abuse.

Those adults may report things of concern to employees or volunteers who should be equipped with the basic knowledge around safeguarding adults and be confident to identify that abuse is taking place and action is required.

All employees and volunteers should be clear about our core values and commitment to safeguarding adults.

It is also useful to discuss training with employees who have attended training sessions to ensure they are embedding this in practice.

Similarly, employees and volunteers may encounter concerns about the safety and wellbeing of children. For more information about children’s safeguarding, please refer to our Child Protection Policy.

Prevent

Radicalisation and extremism of adults with care and support needs is a form of emotional/psychological exploitation. Radicalisation can take place through direct personal contact, or indirectly through social media.

If employees are concerned that an adult with care and support needs is at risk of being radicalised and drawn into terrorism, they should treat it in the same way as any other safeguarding concern.

For more information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance

Review

The Management team and Board of Trustees shall undertake to review this policy, its implementation and effectiveness annually. The views of all employees shall be sought where necessary and reflected in the review process.

Any new legislation or developments in existing legislation will be considered as and when required and the policy will be updated to reflect these development

The last full review was carried out in May 2025.

Useful contacts

Safeguarding Adults (Buckinghamshire)

0800 137 915
Out of hours: 0800 999 7677
[email protected] or phone 101

Safeguarding Adults (Oxfordshire)

0345 0507 666
Emergency Duty Service: 0800 833 408

Safeguarding Adults (Milton Keynes)

01908 253772

Safeguarding Adults (Central Bedfordshire)

0300 300 8122

Safeguarding Adults (Hertfordshire)

0300 123 4042

Useful links

Care Act
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted

Care and Support statutory guidance
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/506202/23902777_Care_Act_Book.pdf

Prevent
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance

Information sharing
https://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/safeguarding-adults/sharing-information/keymessages.asp