The Safe Project
Project 2
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act involves a range of additional measures taken to protect patients in the most vulnerable circumstances, patients that are currently defined within No Secrets as ‘vulnerable adults’. This may be due to illness, impaired mental capacity, physical or learning disability or frailty brought about by age or other circumstance. Safeguarding vulnerable adults from abuse is a complex area of work. The government policy objective is to prevent and reduce the risk of significant harm to vulnerable adults from abuse or other types of exploitation, while supporting individuals to maintain control over their lives. This includes being able to make choices without coercion.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 applies to England, Scotland and Wales, and was put in place for helping people who, previously convicted of a criminal offence but not re-offended since. Those convicted of a criminal offence and given a prison sentence under 2.5yrs benefits from the Act, so long as they are not convicted again during their ‘rehabilitation period’. After this period of time, their conviction is ‘spent’. (The sentence set by the judge, not the time spent in prison, including suspended sentences). Once ‘spent’, the conviction no longer needs to be declared. However, there are two main exceptions which relate to people working with children or vulnerable adults. In these instances, someone applying for a position is required to reveal all convictions, both spent and unspent. (Safeguarding Matters; 2011)
The Police Act 1997 is the legislation which allowed access to criminal records under certain controlled conditions, in order to allow employers to check the background of intended employees, with a view to protecting the interests of vulnerable adults and children.
The Sexual Offences Act 1976 - This legislation created the sex offenders register for identification and tracking purpose. Enables sex offenders to be monitored and vulnerable people to be protected. This legislation protects people in care homes. If they have done an offence they will be on the sex offenders list and it will show up on their CRB check.
Care Standards Act - care homes are regulated by national, independent governing bodies. These organisations have the sole purpose to investigate and regulate all care homes to ensure they keep up certain standards. There are different organisations for each country in the UK and where you live affects which regulatory body is in charge. All care homes must be registered with their national regulatory body and inspected regularly and there will be certain regulations that must be abided.
Care Quality Commission (England), Scottish Care Inspectorate (Scotland), Care and Social Services (Wales), Regulation, Quality and Improvement Authority (Northern Ireland)
(http://www.cheselden.co.uk/blog/what-are-care-home-regulations/)
Mental Health Act 2007 - The act applies to any individual who is ages 16 or over. The act came into force in 1983 and amended in 2007 in England and Wales and it aims to protect people that are not able to make decisions at the time or in the future. People with mental health problems, learning disabilities, brain injuries or stroke are protected by the act. This means that people with any of the above problems may find it difficult to make particular decisions and the act applies then to those who may want to make the decision on a later date. This act will secure the elderly in different ways that if they are to not make decisions for their selves and the carer of the adult who could be their daughter or son can try to benefit from this situation. At this point this act will enable to act for the adults benefit.
