Safeguarding and Protection in Health and Social Care

Introduction

Within this assignment it will cover safeguarding and protection in health and social care. It will cover a range of topics that will include the responsibilities in relation to whistleblowing also the benefits of working in partnership and the boundaries of confidentiality in relation to safeguarding and protection. This will be laid out as a case study approach.

Describe what is meant by safeguarding and protection

Safeguarding adults means protecting their right to live free from abuse and neglect. The local authorities have a new safeguarding system, within this new system they must have a multi-agency team that try to prevent abuse and neglect of adults and stop it when it happens. If they see an adult who has care and support needs they might be at risk of abuse. They will need to work quickly to work out a plan of action. Safeguarding duties apply to any charity working with anyone over 18 years of age who has or needs care and support. Safeguarding children and young people means protecting them from abuse and malnutrition, also to protect them from harm to their health and growth. Safeguarding children is to make sure they grow up with the provision of safe and effective care and to make sure they get the best outcome (GOV, 2017).

The Children’s Act 2004 section 47 says that if a child is likely to suffer any harm the local authorities will be required to enquire as to whether they should take any action to safeguard and protect the welfare of the child (Wessex, 2019).

Outline a minimum of 4 types of abuse

There are many ways that you can be abused one of which being physical abuse. There are many signs or indicators that show you are a victim of physical abuse one of the signs being weight loss or weight gain. When you are physically abused you could have had something mentioned to you about your figure and you could be skipping meals because the abuser said you were too fat or you could weight gain because they said that you were too skinny (NSPCC, 2019). Another sign of physical abuse is bumps and bruises this will show to people that someone is hurting them in a horrible way. This could often be because they are better at something than they are and the abuser wants the victim to do all of the work for them

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Another type of abuse that you could face is neglect. This is often common is children whose parents can’t afford to care for themselves or their children even if they are both working in some cases. A sign or symptom of neglect is dirty clothes. People will usually know that something is not quite right because they usually come in with clean clothes. When a child is being neglected their behaviour can change quite quickly they are known as a bright and bubbly child and within a couple of days they are quiet and shy (NSPCC, 2019).

A third type of abuse is bullying. When you get bullied that can become quite serious. There are many signs of being bullied one of them being unexplained injuries. A symptom of bullying is constant headaches or stomach aches. This could be because the victim knows what will happen to them if they go to school tomorrow. When they are thinking like this it could lead to childhood anxiety which is because of fear or panic. If a child develops anxiety their symptoms will be the feeling of frightened or nervous all the time also tired and irritable (Young minds 2019).  Another symptom could be eating habits, they have been bullied so much that they can’t eat or don’t want to eat because the bully might say something to them (Stop bullying, 2018).

A fourth type of abuse is sexual abuse, this can be serious and dangerous. A sign of sexual abuse could be a mental health problem such as depression and/or anxiety because they will have a constant fear of being sexually assaulted again (Young minds 2019). Another sign a child is being sexually abused is physical problems such as soreness in the genital or anal areas. But it could lead to health problems or have a sexually transmitted infection.  A symptom that can be quite dangerous is self-harm, this is often a common consequence and could lead to them committing suicide in later life (NSPCC, 2019).

Describe the actions to take if harm or abuse is suspected or disclosed

If harm or abuse is suspected or disclosed there are many actions that can be taken. The main action is to report it, to the safeguarding lead on your ward in the hospital. Once you have reported it you will need to log it as part of the safeguarding policy and procedure in the hospital. When you log it you will need to log the date, time, incident and who it was carried out by and who was the victim. A third action to take if harm or abuse is suspected is that you could talk to the victim about what they think might be happening to them. You could talk to the bully and ask them why they bullied that particular person (NSPCC, 2019).

Describe your responsibilities as a health and social care practitioner in relation to whistleblowing

When you are a health and social care practitioner you have many responsibilities in relation to whistleblowing. If you whistle blow for poor practice you must report your concerns and give the full details of the event or events. When you whistle blow you have to report it to the correct authorities. One of the authorities you have to report to is your manager or to the safeguarding lead before the actions get any worse. It they don’t do anything about it you will have to constantly report it to them and them take it further and go the CQC care quality commission. As a health and social care practitioner if you notice any poor practice and you whistle blow on your colleagues, you will be legally protected under the public interest disclosure act 1998 (Nursing times, 2016).

Describe a minimum of 4 factors that contribute to an individual being vulnerable to harm or abuse

There are many factors that could contribute to an individual being vulnerable to abuse or harm. One of the factors that could contribute is learning disabilities this is because the people with learning disabilities might have autism and they might not process the actions and consequences of abuse or harm, this will mean that they don’t understand what abuse or Harm might look like (Scottish autism, 2019). Those with learning disabilities will probably think that it is ok for others to abuse them, the person will be kind and help them to begin with then commit the abuse or harm and end up getting away with it, but leave the victim with injuries (Hampshire sab, ND). Another factor that could make an individual vulnerable to harm or abuse is their age. On the streets of today the harm or abuse is often aimed at the elderly this is often because they can’t stand up for themselves because they are too weak and are just in town to keep their independence by doing their shopping. A third factor that could contribute to make an individual vulnerable to harm or abuse is the poor. The poor are often vulnerable to harm or abuse because if their children go to school in tatty dirty clothes other children will start to make nasty comments to them. If they are poor they won’t have enough money to buy food for the family so they will often look thin and will be malnourished and dehydrated. A fourth factor that could contribute to make an individual vulnerable to harm or abuse is the homeless. The homeless are often vulnerable to harm or abuse because they are living on the streets and just try to find their way in life and cope with their situation and people will often think they are bothering them and then they will beat them up to get them out of their way (Word press, ND).

Describe how the health and social care practitioner safeguards individuals

A health and social care practitioner can safeguard individuals by making sure that they are in a safe environment away from any abuse or harm. They can also safeguard individuals by making sure that they have a DBS check from the police to see if there is any background history. A health and social care practitioner can also safeguard individuals by reporting any abuse.

 

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