Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Health care and adult safeguarding: an audit informing the relationship of the UK vetting and barring scheme with the NHS

Health care and adult safeguarding: an audit informing the relationship of the UK vetting and... Purpose – The paper seeks to report on an audit undertaken in 2010 to support implementation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) processes by National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. The ISA was set up under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (SVGA) 2006. Concern has been expressed that some NHS employers are not familiar with their new obligations to consider making referrals to the ISA. Design/methodology/approach – This audit was designed to provide an estimate of possible NHS referrals to the enhanced vetting and barring scheme run by the ISA in England and Wales; and to explore two NHS Trusts' potential decision‐making and referrals to the ISA following disciplinary action or adverse events. The two NHS Trusts that participated engaged in a detailed review of incidents and their relationship to harm as defined in the SVGA 2006. Findings – The simple number of how many incidents have been reported to the ISA by an NHS Trust will not equate to the same number of cases of individual patients being harmed or the number of events that have placed them at risk of harm. There are considerable differences in how reporting an incident is viewed, managed and dealt with among NHS Trusts. Following this audit, the best estimate of the number of potential NHS referrals from England, Wales and Northern Ireland to the ISA over one year is estimated to be about 712. Research limitations/implications – This is a small audit of self‐selecting Trusts. The information is not examined in detail and the reasons for Trust decisions about disciplinary outcomes are not accessed or scrutinised; the indicative figures of numbers of referrals to the NHS are a simple indication of the levels of referrals that might be expected. Practical implications – The audit results suggest a need for further work on what is most helpful in making the differential decisions about the type of harm that has occurred from an incident. NHS Trusts may need to assure themselves that their duties under the SVGA are fully understood and implemented. Originality/value – The strength of the audit, and, therefore, this paper, is that a sample of Trusts have supplied a level of detail about their staff and Human Resource matters that is not generally available, as access to the DATIX system is not generally sought or permissions given. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Adult Protection Emerald Publishing

Health care and adult safeguarding: an audit informing the relationship of the UK vetting and barring scheme with the NHS

Lynne Phair; Jill Manthorpe
The Journal of Adult Protection , Volume 13 (5): 8 – Oct 10, 2011
Download PDF
8 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/health-care-and-adult-safeguarding-an-audit-informing-the-relationship-fTnBH4YR9W
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1466-8203
DOI
10.1108/14668201111178166
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The paper seeks to report on an audit undertaken in 2010 to support implementation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) processes by National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. The ISA was set up under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (SVGA) 2006. Concern has been expressed that some NHS employers are not familiar with their new obligations to consider making referrals to the ISA. Design/methodology/approach – This audit was designed to provide an estimate of possible NHS referrals to the enhanced vetting and barring scheme run by the ISA in England and Wales; and to explore two NHS Trusts' potential decision‐making and referrals to the ISA following disciplinary action or adverse events. The two NHS Trusts that participated engaged in a detailed review of incidents and their relationship to harm as defined in the SVGA 2006. Findings – The simple number of how many incidents have been reported to the ISA by an NHS Trust will not equate to the same number of cases of individual patients being harmed or the number of events that have placed them at risk of harm. There are considerable differences in how reporting an incident is viewed, managed and dealt with among NHS Trusts. Following this audit, the best estimate of the number of potential NHS referrals from England, Wales and Northern Ireland to the ISA over one year is estimated to be about 712. Research limitations/implications – This is a small audit of self‐selecting Trusts. The information is not examined in detail and the reasons for Trust decisions about disciplinary outcomes are not accessed or scrutinised; the indicative figures of numbers of referrals to the NHS are a simple indication of the levels of referrals that might be expected. Practical implications – The audit results suggest a need for further work on what is most helpful in making the differential decisions about the type of harm that has occurred from an incident. NHS Trusts may need to assure themselves that their duties under the SVGA are fully understood and implemented. Originality/value – The strength of the audit, and, therefore, this paper, is that a sample of Trusts have supplied a level of detail about their staff and Human Resource matters that is not generally available, as access to the DATIX system is not generally sought or permissions given.

Journal

The Journal of Adult Protection – Emerald Publishing

Published: Oct 10, 2011

Keywords: Vetting and barring; Independent Safeguarding Authority; Workforce; Adult safeguarding; Adult protection; Employees; National Health Service

References

  • Joint Investigation into the Provision of Services for People with Learning Disabilities at Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust
    Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection
  • Investigation into Services for People with Learning Disabilities Provided by Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust
    Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection
  • Learning from Investigations
    Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection
  • Safeguarding Adults: Report on the Consultation on the Review of No Secrets
    DH
  • Safeguarding adults: the role of health service practitioners
    DH
  • Statement of government policy on safeguarding
    DH
  • Investigation into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust
    Healthcare Commission
  • Articulating the improvement of care standards: the operation of a barring and betting scheme in social care
    Hussein, S.; Manthorpe, J.; Stevens, M.; Rapaport, J.; Harris, J.; Martineau, S.
  • Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
    Manthorpe, J.; Moriarty, J.
  • The Abuse, Neglect and Mistreatment of Older People in Care Homes and Hospitals in England: Observations on the Potential for Secondary Data Analysis
    Manthorpe, J.; Stevens, M.; Hussein, S.; Heath, H.; Lievesley, N.
  • Building a safety culture
    Milligan, F.; Dennis, S.
  • Seven Steps to Patient Safety
    National Patient Safety Agency
  • Review of early warning systems in the NHS
    National Quality Board
  • Human error: models and management
    Reason, J.
  • Vetting and Barring Potential and Practice: An Interim Report for the Independent Safeguarding Authority Study
    Stevens, M.; Martineau, S.; Manthorpe, J.; Harris, J.