Guidance Six - The referral

Page updated: 01/05/2010

Introduction

Immediate Safety

When you first become aware of an incident your first concern must always be the immediate safety of the vulnerable adult allegedly abused and anyone else at risk. Remember, this may include the alleged perpetrator.

Information Gathering

When you are informed or become aware of an incident, and you are the person responsible for ‘referring’ as detailed in your organisation’s internal procedures, you will need to carry out some initial information gathering to decide if the incident should be referred to Adult Social Care.

When carrying out initial information gathering, you need to consider the following:

• Could the event(s) have happened as alleged – You should not start the interview/investigation process, however it may be necessary to ask the alleged victim some CLARIFICATION questions to gain an understanding of the allegation. If sufficient information has been received about the incident at disclosure THIS WILL NOT BE NECESSARY;

• Has the suspected abuses or neglect resulted in a death - when the death of a vulnerable adult is caused by suspected abuse or neglect, this multi agency policy, procedure and guidance should still be considered along with any other actions that may be necessary;

• What procedures should be used to ensure the immediate safety of the vulnerable adult, for example any disciplinary measures that may need to be addressed urgently such as suspension from duties;

• The information gathering should take place within appropriate timescales (e.g. bruising will fade if left too long before logging/photographing);

• Discussing with the relevant manager(s) on duty at the time – what was said, seen, responded to – how was the information recorded;
• Checking written records – care plans, files, communication books, rotas etc. Could the alleged perpetrator and victim have been together/alone?;
• In exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to discuss the incident with other members of staff. However, this is not normal practice and should only be done when absolutely necessary and confidentiality must be maintained at all times;
• Gathering information about the service user, alleged perpetrator and members of staff;
• Checking files to see if previous records support the claims.

  Making a Referral

  Prior to making a referral you will need to have as much of the following information available, which you will be asked to provide once you telephone the Adult Social Care Department – you may find it useful to complete Appendix One – Referral Form and Appendix Two – Body Map.

Details about the vulnerable adult

• Name;
• Date of Birth;
• Gender;
• Address;
• Ethnic Origin;
• Service User Group – Over 65s, learning disabled, physical disability, mental ill health, deaf, blind, substance misuse, HIV, or any other group;

Other agencies that the vulnerable adult is known to;

• Details of the authority/district the vulnerable adult is from if different to the one being reported to;
• Details about the allegation of abuse;
• Details of any funding arrangements;
• Person who raised the concern – friend, other service user, carer etc;
• Person who alerted;
• Location of abuse – residential care setting, vulnerable adults’ own home, general hospital etc;
• Type of abuse – discriminatory, psychological, sexual, financial/material, physical, neglect and acts of omission;
• A brief description of the allegation/abuse including dates and times.
   

Details about the alleged perpetrator

• Name and address;
• Age – under 18, 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 80+;
• Gender
• Relationship with Service User – partner, neighbour, staff, other family member etc;
• Details of whether the alleged perpetrator is living with the vulnerable adult.

It is important to provide contact details about yourself, as the Safeguarding Manager may need to contact you for further details and, should contact you in any event to offer feedback about the safeguarding assessment.

Decision NOT to make a referral

If, after assessing all the information available, you decide that there is no allegation of abuse you do not need to make a Safeguarding Adults referral to Adult Social Care. See Is a Referral Required? You should fully document any such decision and good practice would be to discuss and agree this action with your line manager.

Any decision not to refer does not mean that the incident should be left or that other actions do not need to take place. Consideration still needs to be given to the needs of the vulnerable adult and to any other actions such as the complaints process, training needs, disciplinary or regulatory action if appropriate.

Referral Point

Both Adult Social Care Departments have a referral point which is responsible for receiving safeguarding adults’ referrals.

When a call is received, the call taker must take details of the referral using the relevant internal system for their Local Authority (either Nottingham City or Nottinghamshire County), including the following details:

Details about the vulnerable adult

• Name;
• Date of Birth;
• Gender;
• Address;
• Ethnic Origin;
• Service User Group – Over 65s, learning disabled, physical disability, mental ill health, deaf, blind, substance misuse, HIV, or any other group;
• Other agencies that the vulnerable adult is known to;
• Details of the authority/district the vulnerable adult is from if different to the one being reported to;
• Details about the allegation of abuse;
• Source of the alert – friend, other service user, carer, staff etc;
• Location of abuse – residential care setting, vulnerable adults’ own home, general hospital etc;
• Type of abuse – discriminatory, psychological, sexual, financial/material, physical, institutional, neglect and acts of omission;
• A brief description of the allegation/abuse including dates and times;
• Details of any funding arrangements.

Details about the alleged perpetrator

• Name and address;
• Age – under 18, 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 80+;
• Gender;
• Relationship with Service User – partner, neighbour, staff, other family member etc;
• Details of whether the alleged perpetrator is living with the vulnerable adult.

  The call taker must then use their internal procedures for making the relevant team aware of the referral.

Checklist

This checklist provides guidance for ensuring good practice when you are required to act in the role of ‘Referrer’ in relation to Safeguarding Adults. It should be read in conjunction with the written Safeguarding Adults Procedures.

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