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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Call of duty
— an exploration of the factors influencing NHS professionals to report adult protection concerns | | Author(s) | Kate Fennell |
| Journal title | Journal of Adult Protection, vol 18, no 3, 2016 |
| Publisher | Emerald, 2016 |
| Pages | pp 161-171 |
| Source | www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/jap.htm |
| Keywords | Elder abuse ; Protection [vulnerable adults] ; National Health Service ; Paid welfare workers ; Medical workers ; Referrals ; Attitude ; Scotland. |
| Annotation | The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 places a duty on Councils to investigate the circumstances of adults who, because of a disability, health condition or illness are unable to safeguard themselves from harm. Public partner agencies including the NHS have a statutory obligation to bring to the attention of the Council those individuals who may be at risk of harm. Health professionals cooperate with adult protection investigations and participate in the development of adult support and protection plans, yet do not appear to be initiating adult protection referrals with the Council. Low reporting by health has also been recognised as a national issue. The purpose of this paper was to explore what promotes and what prohibits the identification and reporting of situations of abuse within the Scottish Legislative Framework. Understanding the decision-making processes of prospective reporters would potentially allow the barriers to be reduced and the supports to be strengthened. The findings point to a number of inter-related factors which impinge upon the professional's confidence to initiate adult protection referrals. Workers must first recognise harm as conduct which needs to be reported and addressed. They need to be familiar with referral procedures and be assured that their concerns will be dealt with appropriately. Health professionals are more likely to report if they are based in an environment which supports honest and open discussion regarding harm, without over-concern about agency reputation or resources. Access to multi-disciplinary consultation and support, particularly in relation to more ambiguous protection situations, was viewed as fundamental to reporting. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-160617227 A |
| Classmark | QNT: CA3G: L4: QP: QT: L5R: DP: 9A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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