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Elderly: Abuse

Answer

All care homes are subject, under the care Standards Act 2000, to the Care Homes Regulations 2001. All providers of regulated social care services, including care homes, must be registered with and inspected by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).When inspecting care providers to assess compliance with the regulations, CSCI must have regard for the relevant national minimum standards (NMS). Compliance with the NMS is not itself enforceable, but compliance with regulations is enforceable subject to the NMS being taken into account. Copies of the regulations and NMS are available in the Library.Regulation 13(6) requires that arrangements shall be made, ““by training staff or by other measures, to prevent service users being harmed or suffering abuse or being placed at risk of harm or abuse””.Standard 18 of the NMS for Care Homes for Older People refers specifically to the protection of service users from abuse. The NMS also refer the reader to further guidance on the prevention of abuse, issued by Action on Elder Abuse, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Department of Health and the Home Office and the Royal College of Nursing.CSCI has issued a range of guidance relating to the safeguarding of adults, which is available on the CSCI professional website, including:"Safeguarding Adults and the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA): Including an agreed protocol with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Directors of Adult Services, which sets out how CSCI works with other agencies to make sure people who use care services are safeguarded from abuse. Available at:""www.csci.org.uk/professional/default.aspx?page=7344&key=;""The Management of Controlled Drugs in Care Homes. Available at:""www.csci.org.uk/professional/default.aspx?page=7314&key=; and""The report, Better Safe than Sorry—advice for providers about the use of key procedures to safeguard adults in care homes. Available at:""www.csci.org.uk/default.aspx?page=1790&key=."In addition to issuing its own guidance, CSCI also draws attention to guidance issued by other organisations on safeguarding.It is part of the role of CSCI's provider relationship managers (PRMs) to obtain information on corporate providers regarding safeguarding issues, in order to ascertain if there are any trends in the homes operated by those providers. These trends would be identified in CSCI's annual report and PRMs would also meet with providers in order to raise such issues.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

214063; 478 c1282W

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Abuse Older people

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk