Government Policy
- “Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: A new direction for community services” (June 2006)
- Independence, Well-being and Choice (March 2005)
- Improving the Life Chances of Disabled people (January 2005)
- Every Child Matters: Change for Children (November 2004)
- National Minimum Standards for Adult Care Homes (2003)
- National Standards for the provision of Children’s Advocacy Services (Nov 2002)
- The Equality Act 2006
- Delivering Race Equality - DRE in Mental Health Care, Department of Health 5 year action plan
- NICE guidance
- “No Secrets”: Guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse Department of Health (2000)
- ‘Fair Access to Care’ (DH 2002)
- 'Better Government for Older People'
- 'Safeguarding Adults' (CSCI Feb 2007)
“Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: A new direction for community services” (June 2006)
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Ourhealthourcareoursay/index.htm
The Government White Paper identifies four goals to implement effective care and support for disadvantaged people:
- Better prevention services
- More choice and a louder voice
- Tackling inequalities and improving access to community services
- More support for people with long term needs.
The Government’s Green Paper on Adult Social Care, Independence, Well-being and Choice (March 2005)
The Green Paper states that people should:
- Have more choice and control over their lives
- Be treated fairly and well and feel safe in the community
- Make choices about how they live
- Have better information about services and who can have them
- Have more of a say (in their lives)
It also quotes from the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled people (see below).
Improving the Life Chances of Disabled people (January 2005)
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/disability.aspx
“In order to put people at the centre of the assessment process and give them individual budgets, many will need help and support to clarify their views on the support they want and to access the services they need”.
“By 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and will be respected and included as equal members of society.”
Every Child Matters: Change for Children (November 2004)
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/
This Government programme aims to ensure that policies and services are designed around the needs of children and young people, and that they are involved in decision-making at both local and national levels. The programme puts children’s views and wishes at the forefront of the decision-making process.
National Minimum Standards for Adult Care Homes (2003)
http://www.csci.org.uk/professional/care_providers/all_services/national_minimum_standards.aspx
This promotes advocacy in several sections as a support for service users to participate in the provision of services. Standard 7, for example, states that:
“Staff help service users, if they wish, to find and participate in local independent advocacy/self-advocacy groups and/or to find peer support from someone who shares the person’s disability, heritage or aspirations.”
National Standards for the provision of Children’s Advocacy Services (Nov 2002)
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Responsestoconsultations/DH_4017049
These standards do not have the full force of statute, but should be complied with unless local circumstances indicate exceptional reasons which justify a variation. The standards are for councils providing, or paying others to provide, independent advocacy for looked after children and those in need - including care leavers and disabled children. ‘Independent’ means advocacy services commissioned from an external organisation, or provided by local children's rights services.
The standards provide a framework for councils to plan, develop and review advocacy practice at all levels. Existing services should meet the standards and new services should be developed in line with them. Children and young people were specifically targeted in the consultation exercise, to ensure that the standards reflect their views.
In March 2007 the Welsh Assembly Government carried out a consultation exercise on a document issuing guidance for a New Service Model for delivering Advocacy Services for Children and Young People. The intention is that Local authorities and their statutory partners must have regard to this document when making arrangements for the planning and commissioning of advocacy services for children and young people.
The Equality Act 2006
Takes a proactive approach, with public sector bodies required to actively promote equal opportunities, eliminate discriminatory practices and to review progress and outcomes in terms of gender, race, disability, age, religion or belief and sexual orientation.
Delivering Race Equality - DRE in Mental Health Care, Department of Health 5 year action plan
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4100773
This is just one component of a wider programme of action bringing about equality in health and social care; for example National Standards, The Department's current
care standards and planning framework. Among the core standards that it sets our are:
- that healthcare organisations must challenge discrimination, promote equality and respect human rights (C7(e))
- that organisations must enable all members of the population to access services equally (C18)
NICE guidance
www.scie.org.uk | www.nice.org.uk
A joint guidance on dementia (2006) by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
1.1 Principles of care for people with dementia, diversity, equality and language
1.1.1.3: Health and Social care staff should identify the specific needs of people with dementia and there carers arising from diversity, including gender, ethnicity, age (younger or older) religion and personal care. XCare plans should record and address these needs
1.1.1.5: Health and social care staff, especially in residential settings, should identify and, wherever possible, accomodate the preferences of people with dementia and their carers, including diet, sexuality and religion. Care plans should record and address these preferences
1.1.1.7: If language or acquired language impairment is a barrier to accessing or understanding services, treatment and care, health and social care professionals should provide the person with dementia and/or their carer with:
- Information in the preferred language and/or in an accessible format
- Independent interpreters
- Psychological interventions in the preferred languages
“No Secrets”: Guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse Department of Health (2000)
This was based on the premise that some groups of adults experience a higher prevalence of abuse and neglect than the general population and that they are also not easily able to access services to enable them to live safer lives.
The groups of adults targeted by ‘No Secrets’ were anyone "who is or may be eligible for community care services". And within that group, those who "were unable to protect themselves from significant harm" were referred to as "vulnerable adults".
In addition, since “No Secrets” was published, there have been some significant legal and policy changes relating to adult social and health care, together with a re-focusing of its language and philosophy.
‘Fair Access to Care’ (DH 2002)
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4009653
"Fair Access to Care" stresses ‘risk to independence and well being ’ as the key criteria for determining eligibility for care services, and therefore replaces the concept of a "vulnerable adult" with an assessment of the risk posed by the abuse and neglect to the quality of life of the individual adult concerned.
‘Better Government for Older People’
This document places an emphasis on supporting adults to access services of their own choosing, rather than ‘stepping in’ to provide protection. It is an example of how the promotion of active citizenship for all, is becoming viewed as holding a central role in preventing risks to independence. In the meantime, the duty to provide protection to those who do not have the mental capacity to access it themselves has become clearer (Mental Capacity Act 2005 - http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2005/ukpga_20050009_en_1)
'Safeguarding Adults' (CSCI Feb 2007)
This protocol demonstrates CSCI’s commitment to working with other agencies to ensure that people within regulated services are appropriately safeguarded. It replaces the December 2003 NCSC adult protection protocol and has been formally agreed with the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS*1) and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The protocol has the support of the Department of Health. Any regional or local agreements in place must be compatible with this national protocol.
In recognition of the changing context, previous references to the protection of "vulnerable adults" and to "adult protection" work are now replaced by the new term: 'Safeguarding Adults'. This phrase means all work which enables an adult "who is or may be eligible for community care services" to retain independence, wellbeing and choice and to access their human right to live a life that is free from abuse and neglect. This definition specifically includes those people who are assessed as being able to purchase all or part of their community care services, as well as those who are eligible for community care services but whose need - in relation to safeguarding - is for access to mainstream services such as the police.
