Safeguarding practice guidance: carers

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) define a carer as someone who 'spends a significant proportion of their time providing unpaid support to a family member, partner or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or substance misuse problems'.

Throughout our guidance we use the term 'carers' to refer to family/friend carers and 'support workers' to refer to paid carers.

'Did not attend'/'Was not brought'

The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust have produced an informative video on the possible reasons why vulnerable adults may not attend appointments, encouraging that the term 'did not attend' is replaced with 'was not brought'.

Carers and safeguarding: a briefing for people who work with carers

The Carers and safeguarding briefing provides an update of the ADASS advice note 'Carers and Safeguarding Adults' produced in 2011 for frontline workers and brings it in line with the Care Act 2014. It is intended to be used as a practical tool and does not seek to amend or replace existing statutory guidance that may be in place. The briefing will support the improvement in practice regarding safeguarding adults as well as safeguarding their carers.