Protection of Vulnerable Adults Monitoring Report 2009-2010

Care and Social Services Inspectorate (CSSIW) has produced its annual monitoring report on how Welsh Local Authorities are performing in relation to allegations of abuse against adults. Working together to develop a rigorous approach that consistently delivers good awareness of abuse, and how to respond to protect and safeguard vulnerable people, is the challenge for all agencies identified in the report.

The report identifies an increase in a number of completed adult protection referrals and highlights that the most common alleged victims of abuse were older women. As in previous years, the largest proportion of alleged victims lived in their own home in the community and just over a third of all alleged victims of abuse were living in care homes at the time they were referred for help.

Most referrals about possible abuse were made by an agency paid for by social services, by a social services care manager, or by a social care service provided directly by the local authority. This reflects the important part played by staff in identifying potential abuse.  
 
Imelda Richardson, Chief Inspector of Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) said:

Protecting people who are vulnerable is an absolute priority. Providers of services are responsible for monitoring the quality of the services they provide to make sure that people using them are safe and CSSIW is committed to tackling poor quality services and care and highlighting where we find good quality services.  

It is important that the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) Monitoring Report is read alongside three other reports undertaken in 2009-10:  CSSIW’s overview report of its national inspection of adult protection, the report of the Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care’s independent review of In Safe Hands and the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales’ national review of safeguarding.

Taken together these reports indicate that more needs to be done to secure awareness of abuse and how to respond effectively; to follow through on the outcomes for potential victims once the initial crisis is over; and to deliver justice for those victims through prosecution.

Ms Richardson continued:

CSSIW is committed to safeguarding vulnerable people and is focused on encouraging improvement and driving up the quality of services to improve outcomes and the quality of life for people who need social care. Through our evaluation and inspection work with Local Authority social services, CSSIW will continue to focus on promoting improvement of assessment and risk assessment underpinned by effective care planning recording and monitoring. We are active in working closely with other organisations and learning from best practice. Safeguarding and protecting vulnerable people from harm requires effective multi-agency working at all times.

Notes to Editors

Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human or civil rights by any other person or persons. Safeguarding vulnerable people is a fundamental concern of statutory agencies and partners in care. CSSIW is committed to working together with others to encourage quality services which protect vulnerable adults.

The Protection of Vulnerable Adults Monitoring Report (POVA) 2009-2010 is CSSIW’s annual publication that brings together data on the performance of Welsh Local Authorities in relation to the allegations of abuse against adults, incidents also known as referrals.