Guidance Eleven - Safeguarding adults investigation
Introduction
The Safeguarding Adults Investigation normally takes place as part of the Safeguarding Assessment, either as the main part of the assessment or in conjunction with another investigation as detailed in Gudance 10 - Investigations as Part of the Investigation. The main focus of the Safeguarding Adults Investigation is to gather all of the relevant information, including interviewing any relevant people, to come to a decision about whether the allegation can be substantiated, and the ways in which an individual can be supported to prevent future abuse.Safeguarding Adults Investigation Officer (SAIO)
The person who carries out the Safeguarding Adults Investigation is known as the Safeguarding Adults Investigation Officer. The Safeguarding Manager should decide if someone known to the individual is best placed to undertake the role of Safeguarding Adults Investigation Officer, or it would be beneficial to have someone who does not know the vulnerable adult. When deciding who is best placed to act in the role of Safeguarding Adults Investigation Officer, the Safeguarding Manager should consider the needs of the vulnerable adult in relation to:
- Communication;
- Ongoing relationship with the SAIO after an investigation;
- The right to a fair and thorough investigation;
- Their ongoing support needs;
- The context of the situation.
The Aim of the Safeguarding Adults Investigation
The aim of the Safeguarding Adults Investigation is to:
- Protect the vulnerable adult from further serious harm;
- Establish and record the facts about the circumstances giving rise to the alert;
- Establish with the vulnerable adult whether they feel that their personal safety is at risk, whether they want professional intervention to occur and what their views are on sharing information about the incident with other staff that need to know;
- Decide if protective or other action is needed for the vulnerable adult or others;
- Identify the sources and levels of risk.
- The tasks that need to be undertaken will include the following:
- Carry out a comprehensive assessment;
- Assess mental capacity of the adult in relation to safeguarding and any subsequent safeguarding plan. See the Nottinghamshire Mental Capacity Act Policy. Determine the need for medical intervention relating to the physical, or mental state of the vulnerable adult;
- Consider the different methods of gathering and presenting evidence;
- Consider the communication needs of the vulnerable adult and ensure that an appropriate service is offered (this includes people with dementia, those whose first language is not English, people with sensory impairment, or people who have learning difficulties).
Information Gathering
- When the referrer is informed or becomes aware of an incident, they are responsible for carrying out some initial information gathering. As the Investigating Officer you may need to access this information. You may also need to clarify some points further or ask for additional information or view records and care plans. Organisations should be aware of the
Interviewing
The SAIO may be responsible for carrying out interviews with the alleged victim, alleged perpetrator and witnesses. This should be agreed at the Safeguarding Assessment Strategy Discussion.
Interviewing the Alleged Victim
The purpose of the interview is to:
- To elicit as accurate a picture as possible from the person as to what, if anything, has happened to them;
- To enable the vulnerable adult to communicate in their own way what, if anything, has happened to them;
- To make it possible for the vulnerable adult to give as full and thorough account of what has happened to them in order to:
- Facilitate further investigation
- Inform further action. - You should also consider the following general points when conducting an interview with a vulnerable adult:
- Careful planning of the interview strategy will avoid the need for repeated questioning;
- Repeated interviewing may cause distress and should be avoided if possible;
- Repeated interviewing may be regarded as "coaching" as this may give the impression to the vulnerable adult that they are not believed or are under pressure to embellish;
- The interview process may need to include breaks where this is in the interest of the vulnerable adult.
Non-criminal Investigations
Prior to Interviewing
No investigative interview should be undertaken without adequate planning. A plan that includes clearly defined objectives should always be prepared before the interview. It may be useful to have in mind a checklist of questions appropriate to the particular case details.
Supporting the Vulnerable Adult
It is essential that the vulnerable adult can understand the reason for the interview prior to it taking place and what will happen. Consideration should be given to the most suitable venue, how the person will get there, who will accompany them and the best time for the vulnerable adult.
The vulnerable adult should be asked if they wish to be accompanied by a friend or supporter. The role of the supporter is to provide non-intrusive support to the vulnerable adult prior to, during and after the interview. If the supporter is in the interview room during the interview, they must not play any part within the interview process and must not answer any questions or prompt the vulnerable adult in any way, nor should the supporter have any knowledge of the evidence.
It should be made clear that the role is not to question the vulnerable adult, or comment upon, or add to what is being said. The supporter will need to be briefed of their role prior to interview.
Where the vulnerable adult has communication difficulties, consideration will need to be given to using an intermediary or interpreter. (see Guidance 20 Communication with Service Users and Guidance 26 - Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings).Carrying out the Interview
Interviews should begin with building a ‘rapport’ to help all involved relax and feel as comfortable as possible with the situation. This may include talking about something totally unrelated to the allegation of abuse.
In addition to this you should make the person being interviewed aware of who is present and why, ensuring that they are comfortable with this and also how the interview will be recorded.
Ensure that the vulnerable adult being interviewed understands that it’s okay to say ‘I don’t know’ if they don’t know the answer to a question.
A ‘free narrative’ stage can then encourage the victim to freely recall in their own words the events that they have experienced before moving onto specific questions or clarification if required.
Further details of investigative interviewing can be found in Guidance Twenty Six – Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
Question Types
The following details about the different types of questions may help you when you are conducting interviews:
Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions are ones that are worded in such a way as to enable the witness to provide an unrestricted response. These also allow the witness to control the flow of information. This type of questioning minimises the risk that interviewers will impose their view of what happened. Such questions usually specify a general topic which allows the witness considerable freedom in determining what to reply.
An example of an open-ended question is "You live at Dewhurst House. What happens there?"
Specific questions
Specific questions can be asked in a non-suggestive way for extension and/or clarification of information previously provided by the vulnerable adult. For example, for a vulnerable adult who has already provided information that a young man in the High Street was wearing a jacket, a specific yet non-suggestive question could be "What colour was the man’s jacket?"
Although some people may not be able to provide information in a free narrative phase nor be able to respond to open questions, they may be able to respond to specific questions. However, interviewers must be aware that specific questions should not unduly suggest answers to the vulnerable adult. An example of a specific, yet non-leading, question for a vulnerable adult who has, as yet, provided no relevant information could be "What happens at bath time?"
Leading Questions
A leading question is one which implies the answer or assumes facts which are likely to be in dispute. Of course, whether a question is leading depends not only on the nature of the question but also on what the vulnerable adult has already communicated in the interview. An example of a leading question could be "so, the man’s jacket was yellow wasn’t it?"
Closed Questions
Closed questions are ones that provide the interviewee with a limited number of alternative responses. For example, "Was the man’s jacket black, another colour, or can’t you remember?" As long as the question provides a number of sensible and equally likely alternatives it would not be deemed suggestive. Some vulnerable adults may find closed questions particularly helpful. However, at the beginning of the use of closed questions interviewers should try to avoid using ones that contain only two alternatives (especially yes/no questions) unless these two alternatives contain all possibilities (e.g. "Was it day time or night time?"). If questions containing only two alternatives are used, these should be phrased so that they sometimes result in the first alternative being chosen and sometimes in the second alternative.
Some vulnerable witnesses may only be able to respond to closed questions which contain two alternatives. Even in such circumstances it should still be possible for interviewers to avoid an investigative interview being made up largely of leading questions. However, such interviews are likely to require special expertise and extensive planning especially regarding the questions to be asked.
Multiple choice questions
Many vulnerable adults will have difficulty with questions unless they are simple, contain only one point per question, do not contain abstract words, or double negatives and lack suggestion and jargon.
The emphasis should be on ensuring the vulnerable adult understands what is being asked of them. The ground rules about ‘understanding’ and ‘don’t know’ should be re-iterated to ensure this is the case.
Safeguarding Adults Investigation Officer’s Report
Once the Investigating Officer has completed all the necessary information gathering and interviews they should complete Appendix Four - Investigating Officer's Report
Police Interviews
The Police will undertake investigative interviews for use in criminal proceedings in line with Achieving Best Evidence.