Are you being abused or neglected?

What is ‘safeguarding’ and what is ‘abuse’?

Safeguarding is about making you aware of your rights, protecting you and preventing abuse.

Abuse is any action that harms another person.

Do you think you might have suffered abuse or neglect?

You should never have to tolerate neglect or abuse.

If you think that you are being neglected or may have suffered any form of abuse by another person, you should immediately tell your care coordinator, named nurse or any other professional working with you.

They will then work with you and anyone else who can help you. This may include the police and other services.

Who can be abused?

Anybody can be abused but it happens more often to people who:

are older, frail or have dementia
have physical disabilities
have learning difficulties / disabilities
have mental health problems
depend on others to help them.

Abuse can take many forms, including:

Physical abuse this is when someone hurts you physically. This includes shaking, rough handling or giving you too much or not enough medicine.

Domestic abuse this is when someone in your family or who you are in a domestic relationship with, hurts you. This can include being controlled or threatened.

Financial abuse this includes somebody who takes your money or belongings, makes you buy something that you do not want or uses your money to pay for their things.

Emotional abuse when someone threatens or harasses you or causes you emotional distress, for example, by regularly shouting, ridiculing or deliberately ignoring you.

Sexual abuse this includes any unwanted sexual touching or behaviour.

Discriminatory abuse when someone treats you unfairly because they think you are different from them.

Neglect when someone does not give you the things you need to keep you safe.

Self-neglect this covers a wide range of behaviour including not taking care of your personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding.

Who abuses?

It could be someone you know, a stranger, a relative, friend, neighbour, paid carer, volunteer or member of staff. It could be anyone.

Where can abuse occur?

Abuse can take place anywhere. This can include:

in your home, whether you live alone or with someone else
in your care or nursing home
in your day support setting
in hospital
any place where support services are being provided
in a public place.

What to do

You should never have to put up with abuse.

If you think you are being abused or neglected, you should first talk to your care coordinator, named nurse or any other professional working with you who you trust.

Do this straight away. Their contact details should be on your care plan.

If you do not have these contact details you can also contact the Local Authority to report any concerns.

What happens after you tell us what has happened?

We will:

ask you to give brief details about what has happened and who did what. Any information you give us will be used sensitively and will be shared only on a confidential basis with other agencies that might need to help.
always take what you report seriously.
listen to you and respect your wishes
give you immediate help and support to help you to keep safe and to ensure the abuse stops.
work with you, and anyone else who can help you. This may include the police and other services.
try and act in your best interests. If you find it difficult to understand what is happening we will ask you if you want an advocate, or the support of a carer, relative or friend.
keep you informed of what is happening.
ask if, and how, you wish to take part in any investigation or in planning to safeguard you from abuse or neglect in the future.