Provisional report shows extent of alleged abuse of vulnerable adults in care and domestic homes

Provisional figures suggest around three in 10 cases of alleged abuse towards vulnerable adults reported to councils in 2010/11 took place in residential care homes, while about four in 10 took place in the adult’s own home.

Of the 96,000 reported cases in England referred to councils’ Adult Safeguarding teams, 94,500 had key information recorded. Of those 94,500; 32,700 (35 per cent) related to alleged abuse taking place in a care home. while 39,300 (42 per cent) related to alleged abuse in the vulnerable adult’s own home8.

Today’s NHS Information Centre report presents provisional findings from a new data collection on Abuse of Vulnerable Adults; based on submissions to the NHS IC by 151 of the 152 councils in England with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs). Findings are provisional as CASSRs have the final of three cut-off dates left to respond to any further issues around data quality. There is no data for one CASSR3, while others have data gaps in their submissions. A final report with more detailed findings will be produced in March 2012.

Today’s report suggests that of the 94,500 cases referred for investigation by CASSRs to Adult Safeguarding teams:

Vulnerable adults

• Just under half of the referrals reported (49 per cent, or 46,400) were about adults with a physical disability.
• 23 per cent (21,900) were about adults with a mental health issue.
• 21 per cent (19,400) were about adults with a learning disability.
• Seven per cent of referrals (6,800) were about substance misusers or other vulnerable adults.

Councils recorded 13,900 repeat referrals; where two or more separate referrals about the same vulnerable adult were received within the year. Social care staff were the main source of referrals (44 per cent, or 42,100).

Alleged types of abuse

• 36 per cent (34,300) involved physical abuse.
• 28 per cent (26,600) involved neglect.
• 24 per cent (23,200) involved financial abuse.
• 19 per cent (18,400) involved emotional or psychological abuse.
• 12 per cent (11,600) involved sexual, discriminatory or institutional abuse.

These sum to more than 100 per cent because some of the referrals involved multiple types of abuse.

Alleged perpetrators

• 29 per cent of cases (27,500) involved a social care or health care worker as the alleged perpetrator.
• 25 per cent (23,700) involved a family member (including the vulnerable adult’s partner).
• 13 per cent (12,300) involved another vulnerable adult.
• 12 per cent (11,000) involved a neighbour, friend, stranger, volunteer or other professional.

Some referrals may have involved more than one alleged perpetrator.

75,000 referrals were completed within the 2010/11 collection period and of the 73,600 that could be categorised:

• 32 per cent of cases (23,300) were substantiated.
• 31 per cent (23,100) were not substantiated.
• Nine per cent (6,900) were partially substantiated.
• 28 per cent (20,400) were not determined or inconclusive.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: “Although this report is provisional, it shines a light on what is clearly an emotive subject involving some of the most vulnerable people in society.

“This information is vital for councils, social care and health professionals to consider their own figures and examine the reasons behind them. The collection also allows people to see how they relate to the national and regional picture. For all of these reasons, it is vital that all councils submit and validate their data to what is now a mandatory return to ensure that the overall picture is full and accurate.”

The provisional report is available at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/provabusevulnerableadults1011

Final results are expected to be published in March 2012.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care (The NHS IC) is England’s authoritative, central, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
2. This is a new collection which was piloted among 31 Councils with Adult Social Services responsibilities (CASSRs) in England in 2008-09. The collection was rolled out nationally in 2009-10, with CASSRs invited to submit data on a voluntary basis. 128 CASSRs submitted data for the voluntary collection but there were numerous data quality issues, particularly around the interpretation of the guidance. These issues have resulted in the 2010-11 data not being comparable to the 2009-10 data and therefore no comparisons between the two years have been drawn in the provisional report.
3. The NHS IC liaises closely with organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. However, figures are reliant upon the accurate and complete recording of referral cases by councils. Nottingham City Council did not submit data by the second cut deadline due to outstanding validation issues coupled with resource constraints, which should be resolved in time for the final cut
4. The figures contained in today’s report are classed as Experimental Statistics. These are new official statistics that are undergoing evaluation. A key part of the “Experimental Statistics” label is user engagement in the evaluation of those statistics and the NHS IC invites readers to comment on this publication, which will help inform the next report. Comments may be sent to enquires@ic.nhs.uk.
5. Adults refer to those aged 18 and over. A vulnerable adult is a person who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation in any care setting. This includes individuals in receipt of social care services, those in receipt of other services such as health care, and those who may not be in receipt of services.
6. A referral is recorded when a report of alleged abuse leads to an adult protection investigation/assessment relating to the concerns reported. Referrals in this report are safeguarding referrals, not referrals for community care assessments, which are analysed for the NHS IC’s Referrals, Assessments and Packages of Care (RAP) return.
7. Key information relates to three specific fields; age, primary client type and gender. If any of these three fields are missing then the full information about the referral is not captured and the vulnerable adult is classed as an “unknown” for the purposes of this return.
8. In addition to the 35 per cent (32,700) of cases which related to alleged abuse taking place in a care home and 42 per cent (39,300) which related to alleged abuse in the vulnerable adult’s own home, there were also 26 per cent (24,500) which related to other settings, such as other health settings, public places and places of work, or for which the place was unknown. Note that more than one location could have been recorded for in each referral, so these sum to more than 100% of the 94,500 cases for which key information was recorded.
9. The ‘No Secrets’ guidance issued by Department of Health to councils in 2000 states that “Local Authority Social Services Departments should play a co-ordinating role in developing local policies and procedures for the protection of vulnerable adults from abuse” Adult social services safeguarding teams within councils lead on this aspect of the guidance by providing guidance and support to operational staff dealing with safeguarding issues. Actual processes and procedures will vary from council to council.
   No Secrets – guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, pg. 7. (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4008486)
10. For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or contact mediaenquiries@ic.nhs.uk

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