Safeguarding adults
Safeguarding adults means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect, and under the Care Act 2014 it is a duty shared between providers, local authorities and the police.
Safeguarding adults in practice
For a registered provider it is both a regulatory requirement under Regulation 13 and a practical system: recognising abuse, reporting it, cooperating with enquiries, and learning from what happened.
The categories include physical, sexual, psychological, financial and discriminatory abuse, neglect and acts of omission, organisational abuse, domestic abuse, modern slavery and self-neglect. Organisational abuse is the one providers most often overlook, because it describes the harm a service can do through its own routines and culture rather than through a single act.
A safeguarding referral to the local authority does not replace a statutory notification to CQC, and neither replaces the duty of candour to the person affected. The same incident can require all three.
Back to the glossaryRelated definitions
Duty of Candour
The duty of candour requires providers to be open and transparent when something goes wrong, and to tell the person affected as soon as reasonably practicable, apologise, explain what is known, and follow up in writing.
Read definitionStatutory notification
A statutory notification is a formal report a registered provider is legally required to send CQC when certain events happen, such as a death, serious injury, allegation of abuse, or an event that stops the service running safely.
Read definitionRight Support, Right Care, Right Culture
Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture is CQC guidance setting out what good looks like for services supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability, covering the model of support, the care delivered, and the culture of the organisation.
Read definitionRegistering with CQC or Ofsted?
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