Vulnerability, Risk and Empowerment

1
Vulnerability, Risk and Empowerment

• Action on Elder Abuse Conference
• 17 September 2008
• Marcia Ramsay
• Director for Adult Services Regulation (Acting)

2
Regulation and Protection 2 sides of the same
coin?

• Protecting and Safeguarding people who use
  services and
• Providing Assurance
• A role to guide as well as regulate

3
What is regulated by the Care Commission?

• Care Homes for Children and Adults
• Support Services
• Support Services- Care at Home
• Housing Support Services
• Combined HSS and C_at_H
• Independent Hospitals and Hospices
• Early Years Services (eg childminders and
  nurseries)

4
What is regulated?

• Adult Placement Services
• Adoption and Fostering Services
• School Care Accommodation
• Childcare Agencies
• Criminal Justice Accommodation Services
• Independent Specialist Clinics
• Nurse Agencies

5
How do we regulate?

• Registration
• Inspection
• Complaints and
• Enforcement

6
How do we regulate?

• Self assessment by services
• Assessment and grading by the Care Commission
• Involvement of services users, carers and
  representatives in inspection
• Being proportionate and targeted in our approach
• Use of announced and unannounced visits to care
  services
• Involvement of lay assessors

7
How do services deal with protection?

• Adult protection is not new
• Providers have a responsibility to ensure the
  wellbeing of service users
• Providers have a responsibility to notify the
  Care Commission of incidents/accidents and
  misconduct etc
• Service users and their representatives/ families
  can complain independently to the Care Commission
  about a care service

8
Issues

• Do providers and staff understand the forms which
  harm and abuse can take?
• The balance of rights v risks
• Regulators also require to have a good
  understanding of risk/harm/abuse
• Working in partnership local authorities/health
  boards/police/other regulators and providers

9
Ensuring providers take up the challenge of adult
safeguarding

• Knowing responsibilities
• Developing culture and staff awareness and
  understanding
• Learning from what has happened in the past both
  good and bad
• Engage and communicate

10
Acting to identify and address concernsSome
examples

• Recruitment practices
• Capacity and consent issues
• Responding to the concerns of the public