Plymouth City Council is supporting Safeguarding Adults Week (21 to 27 November), which helps to raise awareness about adult abuse, neglect or exploitation.
Safeguarding means protecting someone's right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Adults at risk of abuse are people over the age of 18 who:
- may rely on other people or services for care and support with day to day tasks because of their age, physical or learning disability, mental health or involvement in substance misuse
- may lack mental capacity
- may not be able to speak up for themselves
- may neglect themselves and/or their home.
Action on Elder Abuse recently relaunched as Hourglass; their research has shown that ‘around 1 in 6 people 60 years and older, experienced some form of abuse in community settings during the past year. That’s over 16% of our mothers, fathers, uncles, aunties, grandmas, grandads, friends and neighbours.’
Abuse can happen anywhere – in a person's home, in the street, in a residential or nursing home, at a day centre or resource centre, in a hospital or any place where an adult at risk might be.
Councillor Dr John Mahony, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care and Chair of Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “We want to highlight the importance of safeguarding and the issues that some adults may face. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and together we can help to protect our adult residents from abuse, neglect or exploitation. If you're worried an adult is being abused or neglected, even if you're unsure, then please make sure you report it to our safeguarding team who can then investigate further.”
The Council is the lead agency for adult safeguarding and plays a key role in maintaining the Plymouth Safeguarding Adults Partnership, a group of local organisations who lead adult safeguarding arrangements across the city and oversee and coordinate the effectiveness of adult safeguarding arrangements in our local communities.
If you're worried an adult is being abused or neglected, please report it. You can do this online at Report adult abuse or neglect | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK or by calling 01752 668000. However, if someone is in immediate danger, please call 999.