Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy

SAFEGUARDING ADULTS
AT RISK POLICY

Last Updated: 12 July 2025

Accessibility Note

This policy is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact us via our website contact form if you require this information in a different format.

Introduction and Our Commitment

The Echo Society recognises its responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of adults at risk.

An adult at risk (previously referred to as a 'vulnerable adult') is defined under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 as a person aged 18 or over who:

(a) has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs);
(b) is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
(c) as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the actual, abuse or neglect.

1) Aim

The purpose of this policy is to outline the duty and responsibility of Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers working on behalf of The Echo Society in relation to Safeguarding Adults at Risk.
All adults have the right to be safe from harm and must be able to live free from fear of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

2) Objectives

To explain the responsibilities The Echo Society and its Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers have in respect of adult safeguarding.
To provide Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers with an overview of adult safeguarding.
To provide a clear procedure that will be implemented where adult safeguarding issues arise.

3) Context

For the purpose of this policy, 'adult' means a person aged 18 years or over.

An adult at risk could include people with learning disabilities, mental health problems, older people, and people with a physical disability or impairment. It is important to include people whose condition and subsequent vulnerability fluctuates. It may include an individual who may be at risk as a consequence of their role as a carer in relation to any of the above.
It may also include victims of domestic abuse, hate crime, and antisocial behaviour. A person's need for additional support to protect themselves may be increased when complicated by additional factors, such as, physical frailty or chronic illness, sensory impairment, challenging behaviour, drug or alcohol problems, social or emotional problems, poverty, or homelessness.
Many adults at risk may not realise that they are being abused. For instance, an elderly person, accepting that they are dependent on their family, may feel that they must tolerate losing control of their finances or their physical environment. They may be reluctant to assert themselves for fear of upsetting their carers or making the situation worse.
It is important to consider the meaning of 'Significant Harm'. This includes not only ill-treatment (including sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical), but also the impairment of, or an avoidable deterioration in, physical or mental health; and the impairment of physical, intellectual, emotional, social, or behavioural development.

4) Legal Framework

Our safeguarding practices are underpinned by relevant UK legislation, including, but not limited to:

The Care Act 2014: This Act introduced the legal framework for adult safeguarding duties on local authorities and their relevant partners in England, defining what 'adult at risk' means and establishing Safeguarding Adults Boards.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: Provides a statutory framework for people who lack capacity to make decisions for themselves, or who have capacity and want to make preparations for a time when they may lack capacity in the future. It sets out who can take decisions, in which situations, and how they must go about this. This includes the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
The Human Rights Act 1998: Gives legal effect in the UK to the fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), promoting the right to life, freedom from inhumane treatment, and respect for private and family life.
The Data Protection Act 2018 (and UK GDPR): Governs how we collect, process, and store personal data, including sensitive information related to safeguarding concerns.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015: Focuses on preventing modern slavery and human trafficking, and protecting victims.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021: Provides a statutory definition of domestic abuse, including controlling or coercive behaviour, and places duties on local authorities to provide support to victims.
The Online Safety Act 2023: Aims to improve online safety, including measures to protect individuals from illegal content and harmful online behaviours.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA): Created a framework for whistleblowing across the private, public, and voluntary sectors, protecting individuals who raise genuine concerns about malpractice.

We also adhere to statutory guidance published by the Department of Health and Social Care, and the multi-agency procedures developed by our local Safeguarding Adults Board.

5) Role of Management, Supervisor, Counsellor and Volunteers

Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers working on behalf of the organisation have a duty to promote the welfare and safety of adults at risk.
Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers may receive disclosures of abuse and observe adults at risk. This policy will enable those working for The Echo Society to make informed and confident responses to specific adult safeguarding issues.

6) Types of Abuse

Abuse may consist of a single act or repeated acts. It can be physical, verbal, or psychological; it may be an act of neglect or an omission to act, or it may occur when an adult at risk is persuaded to enter into a financial or sexual transaction to which they have not consented, or cannot consent. Abuse can occur in any relationship and it may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the person subjected to it. Technology can be a significant means through which various forms of abuse are perpetrated.

The Care Act 2014 and associated statutory guidance identify the following as the main types of abuse, and our policy covers all forms of harm and exploitation an adult at risk may experience:

Physical abuse: Including hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medication, restraint, or inappropriate sanctions.
Domestic Abuse: Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults (aged 16 or over) who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass psychological, physical, sexual, financial, or emotional abuse, and includes so-called 'honour'-based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced marriage. This often includes technology-facilitated abuse, such as online harassment, monitoring, or unwanted digital contact.
Coercive and Controlling Behaviour: A pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation, or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten a victim. Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour. Technology is frequently used as a tool for coercive control, including monitoring, isolation, and intimidation.
Sexual abuse: Including rape and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult at risk has not consented, or could not consent, or or was pressured into consenting. This also covers sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, or being forced to witness sexual acts. This can include sharing intimate images without consent ('revenge porn') or online sexual exploitation.
Psychological or Emotional Abuse: Including threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, intimidation, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal from services or supportive networks. This also includes cyber bullying and online harassment, tracking, or surveillance facilitated by technology.
Financial or Material Abuse: Including theft, fraud, internet scamming, exploitation, pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions, or benefits. This can include online scams, coercive control of finances through digital means, or identity theft.
Neglect and Acts of Omission: Including ignoring medical, emotional, or physical care needs; failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care, or educational services; or the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition, and heating.
Discriminatory Abuse: Including forms of harassment, slurs, or similar treatment that is based on a person's protected characteristics such as disability, age, sexuality, race, sex, culture, religion, or politics. This includes hate crime, often perpetrated online.
Organisational (Institutional) Abuse: This refers to neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting, such as a hospital, care home, or even in relation to care provided in one's own home. It may range from one-off incidents to ongoing ill-treatment due to systemic failings, a rigid regime, or poor professional practice.
Self-neglect: This covers a wide range of behaviours neglecting to care for one's personal hygiene, health, or surroundings, and includes behaviour such as hoarding.

Additional Forms of Abuse and Exploitation (where applicable to adults at risk):

Modern Slavery: Encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use various means to coerce, deceive, and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude, and inhumane treatment. This can often involve technology for recruitment, control, and exploitation.
Stalking: A pattern of unwanted and repeated attention and harassment that causes a person to feel alarm, distress, or fear of violence. This very often includes cyberstalking, online monitoring, and technology-facilitated harassment.
Forced Marriage: A marriage in which one or both parties are married without their full and free consent, or against their will.
Mate Crime: When adults at risk are befriended by members of the community who go on to exploit and take advantage of them, often through illegal acts or acts that have a negative effect on the individual. This is typically carried out by someone the adult knows and often happens in private.
Radicalisation: The process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. Adults at risk can be particularly vulnerable to radicalisation. Online platforms are a significant vector for radicalisation.

Concerns about abuse may be raised and reported to the social services agency as a result of a single incident or repeated incidents of abuse. However, for some clients, the issues of abuse relate to neglect and poor standards of care. They are ongoing and if ignored may result in a severe deterioration in both physical and mental health, and even death.

Anyone who has concerns about poor care standards and neglect in a care setting may raise these within the service, with the regulatory body, and/or with the social services agency. Where these concerns relate to an adult at risk living in their own home, or who is at risk of homelessness, with family, or with informal carers, they must be reported to the social services agency. These reports must be addressed through the adult protection process, and a risk assessment must be undertaken to determine an appropriate response to reduce or remove the risk.

7) Children

It is essential that the needs of any children within an abusive or domestic violence situation where there is an adult at risk involved are considered and acted upon. Please contact your Supervisor or Manager and/or the local social services Safeguarding Children’s team.

8) Procedure in event of a Disclosure

It is important that adults at risk are protected from abuse. All complaints, allegations, or suspicions must be taken seriously.
This procedure must be followed whenever an allegation of abuse is made or when there is a suspicion that an adult at risk has been abused.
Promises of confidentiality must not be given as this may conflict with the need to ensure the safety and welfare of the individual.
A full record shall be made as soon as possible of the nature of the allegation and any other relevant information.
This must include information in relation to the date, the time, the place where the alleged abuse happened, your name and the names of others present, the name of the complainant and, where different, the name of the adult who has allegedly been abused, the nature of the alleged abuse, a description of any injuries observed, the account which has been given of the allegation.

9) Responding to an Allegation

Any suspicion, allegation, or incident of abuse must be reported to your Supervisor or Manager on that working day where possible.
The Supervisor or Manager shall telephone and report the matter to the appropriate local adult social services duty social worker. A written record of the date and time of the report shall be made and the report must include the name and position of the person to whom the matter is reported. The telephone report must be confirmed in writing to the relevant local authority adult social services department within 24 hours.

10) Responding Appropriately to an Allegation of Abuse

In the event of an incident or disclosure:

DO:

Make sure the individual is safe.
Assess whether emergency services are required and call them if needed.
Listen with care.
Offer support and reassurance.
Establish the basic facts without probing.
Make careful notes and confirm accuracy.
Record dates, times, and names of those present.
Preserve any forensic evidence where relevant.
Follow the correct procedure.
Explain confidentiality boundaries and seek support from your manager.
Let the individual know what will happen next.
Provide ongoing support where appropriate.

AVOID:

Confronting the alleged abuser.
Judging, dismissing, or minimising the concern.
Investigating beyond what’s necessary to establish basic facts.
Asking leading or suggestive questions.
Disturbing potential evidence.
Consulting with people not directly involved.
Making assumptions or promises.
Ignoring the concern or delaying action.
Elaborating or speculating in your notes.
Reacting with panic.

It is important to remember that the person who first encounters a case of alleged abuse is not responsible for deciding whether abuse has occurred. This is a task for the professional adult protection agencies, following a referral from the designated Adult at Risk Protection Lead.

Understood. Here is Section 11: Professional Boundaries for your Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy.

11) Professional Boundaries

The Echo Society expects all who work for the organisation to protect the professional integrity of themselves and the organisation.

The following professional boundaries must be adhered to:

Giving and receiving gifts from a service user: The Echo Society does not allow any member of the team to give gifts to or receive gifts from a service user. However, gifts may be provided by the organisation as part of an event/activity.

Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and Volunteers Contact with Service Users:

Personal relationships between Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers (paid or unpaid) and a service user who is a current service user is prohibited. This includes relationships through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
It is also prohibited to enter into a personal relationship with a person who has been a service user over the past 12 months.
The Echo Society prohibits passing on service users’ personal contact details.
Taking family members to a client’s home is not allowed.
Selling to or buying items from a service user is not allowed.
Accepting responsibility for any valuables on behalf of a service user is prohibited.
Accepting money as a gift/Borrowing money from or lending money to service users is prohibited.
Personal relationships with a third party related to or known to service users is not allowed.
The Echo Society prohibits accepting gifts/rewards or hospitality from organisations as an inducement for either doing/not doing something in their official capacity.
Be cautious of, or avoid personal contact with a service user/s.

12) Confidentiality

Adult at risk protection raises issues of confidentiality which must be clearly understood by all.
Management, Supervisors, Counsellors and volunteers have a professional responsibility to share relevant information about the protection of adults at risk with other professionals, particularly investigative agencies and adult social services.
Clear boundaries of confidentiality will be communicated to all.
All personal information regarding an adult at risk will be kept confidential.
All written records will be kept in a secure area for a specific time as identified in data protection guidelines.
If an adult confides to the Management, Supervisor, Counsellor or a volunteer and requests that the information is kept secret, it is important that the member of the team tells the adult sensitively that he or she has a responsibility to refer cases of alleged abuse to the appropriate agencies.
Within that context, the adult must, however, be assured that the matter will be disclosed only to people who need to know about it.
Where possible, consent must be obtained from the adult before sharing personal information with third parties. In some circumstances obtaining consent may be neither possible nor desirable as the safety and welfare of the adult at risk is the priority.
Where a disclosure has been made, a member of the team must let the adult know the position regarding their role and what action they will have to take as a result.
Management, Supervisors, Counsellors and volunteers must assure the adult that they will keep them informed of any action to be taken and why. The adults’ involvement in the process of sharing information must be fully considered and their wishes and feelings taken into account.

13) The roles of individual Agencies

Adult Social Services.

The Department of Health’s Care and Support Statutory Guidance requires that local authorities develop a local framework within which all responsible agencies work together to ensure a coherent policy for the protection of adults at risk of abuse.
All local authorities have a Safeguarding Adults Board, which oversees multi-agency work aimed at protecting and safeguarding adults at risk. It is normal practice for the board to comprise of people from partner organisations who have the ability to influence decision making and resource allocation within their organisation.

The Police. The Police play a vital role in Safeguarding Adults with cases involving alleged criminal acts. It becomes the responsibility of the police to investigate allegations of crime by preserving and gathering evidence. Where a crime is identified, the police will be the lead agency and they will direct investigations in line with legal and other procedural protocols.

Role of Designated Adult at Risk Protection Lead.

The role of the designated team member for adult at risk protection is to deal with all instances involving adult protection that arise within the organisation. They will respond to all adult at risk protection concerns and enquiries.
The designated Adult at Risk Protection Leads for the organisation is your supervisor or if they are absent the manager.

Should you have any suspicions or concerns relating to Adult Protection, contact your supervisor or if they are absent the manager.

Role of Supervisor and Manager.

The role of the Supervisor and/or Manager is to support the team member involved with the incident and to ensure the correct procedures are followed.
The Supervisor and/or Manager could, if agreed with the team member dealing with the incident, make contact with the designated Adult at Risk Protection Lead in the first instance.
The Supervisor and Manager must ensure that all Management, Supervisors, Counsellors and volunteers are familiar with the organisation’s adult at risk protection procedures and ensure that training is undertaken, where appropriate.

Training.

Training will be provided, as appropriate, to ensure that colleagues are aware of these procedures.
Specialist training will be provided for the member of team with adult at risk protection responsibilities.

Complaints Procedure. The Echo Society organisation has a complaints procedure available. If you have a complaint then you should tell us by contacting us by clicking here.

Recruitment Procedure. The organisation operates procedures that take account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of adults at risk, including arrangements for appropriate checks on new Management, Supervisors, Counsellors, and volunteers where applicable (e.g., Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks).

14) References, Internet Links, Guidance, and Further Resources of Information

For further information and guidance on safeguarding adults at risk, please refer to the following resources:

Care and Support Statutory Guidance: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance]
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): For guidance on data protection and sharing information in safeguarding contexts. [https://ico.org.uk/]
Local Safeguarding Adults Board (LSAB) Information: Your local authority's LSAB will have specific multi-agency safeguarding policies and procedures relevant to your area.
National Domestic Abuse Helpline (managed by Refuge): [https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/]
Victim Support: [https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/]
Modern Slavery Helpline: [https://www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/]

Review of this Safeguarding Adults at Risk Policy

We may update this Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy from time to time as necessary. The terms that apply to you are those posted here on our website on the day you use our services. We advise you to print a copy for your records.

If you have any questions regarding our Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy, please contact us by clicking here.

SAFEGUARDING ADULTS AT RISK POLICY

SAFEGUARDING ADULTS
AT RISK POLICY