Safeguarding in Health and Social Care

Under the Health and Social Care Act (2008), abuse is defined as:

“Single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress including physical, emotional, verbal, financial, sexual, racial abuse, neglect and abuse through misapplication of drugs.”

Abuse can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. However, it is so alarming that more and more elderly people suffer from abuse everyday. Many elderly adults are being abused in their homes and even in care facilities such as nursing homes responsible for their care. How can elderly groups be vulnerable to abuse and/or harm to self and others? And
But if the carer has the right working attitude and mindset of respect and passion for his/her work, appropriate communication, good sense of humour then, most likely, the service user will not be abused and the risk involved will be minimised or if possible avoided. Under Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, risk assessments are a legal requirement for employers to carry out to eliminate or reduce risks. Employers with 5 or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment. ( Health and Safety, 2003).
A risk assessment will be undertaken by a trained and qualified person, of the potential risks to service users and carers. The risk for service users in maintaining their independence and daily living within the home must be assessed and must be based on the appropriate needs of the individual service user. As part of risk assessment, enough precautions to prevent harm should include practical control measures, providing information and training, and carrying out monitoring and health surveillance where necessary. The main benefit of risk assessment is in helping achieve a health and safety culture which have an impact on the reduction of accidents/incidents to a minimum, creation of a working environment which values health and safety and improvement of staff morale due to increased job satisfaction and feeling more