Last Updated on June 21, 2016
Official statistics about adult safeguarding referrals made to councils in England have been published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
The Safeguarding Adults, England 2014-15 report contains information about instances where a concern has been raised to a council about an adult over the age of 18 who is at risk of abuse. The report also includes the results of investigations into these concerns. Types of abuse include physical, sexual, psychological, financial, neglect, discrimination and institutional.
The report provides the key findings from the Safeguarding Adults Return (SAR) data collection for the period 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015. The report presents information about adults at risk for whom safeguarding referrals were opened during the reporting period, and case details for safeguarding referrals which concluded during the reporting period.
The report covers the year 2014-15, the last year before safeguarding adults became a statutory duty under the Care Act (2014). The SAR data collection only includes cases of alleged abuse where a council safeguarding service has been notified and has entered details onto their system. It does not include cases where partner agencies have dealt with the allegation and not shared the information with the council. It is likely that there are cases of abuse that have not been reported to councils. Furthermore, the data collection only covers abuse perpetrated by others; it does not include self-harm or self-neglect.
Safeguarding referrals were opened for 103,900 individuals during the 2014-15 reporting year, a small reduction from the 104,050 in 2013-14. 60% of the individuals were female and 63% were aged 65 or over. Just over half (52%) of the individuals required physical or mental health support.
For referrals which concluded during the 2014-15 reporting year, there were 128,060 allegations by type of risk (122,140 allegations in 2013-14). Of these, the most common type was neglect and acts of omission, which accounted for 32% of allegations (up from 30% last year), followed by physical abuse with 27% (remained the same as 2013-14).
The source of risk was most commonly someone known to the adult at risk but not in a social care capacity, accounting for 50% of referrals (the same as in 2013-14). Social care support was the source of risk in 36% of referrals (the same as in 2013-14) and for the remaining 14% the source was someone unknown to the individual. These figures are based on a total of 108,240 risks recorded for concluded referrals by source of risk.
There were 108,240 allegations made by location of risk in concluded referrals, an increase of 9% on 2013-14 (with 99,195 risks). The location of risk was most frequently the home of the adult at risk (43% of allegations) or in a care home (36% of risks).
There were a total of 65 serious case reviews (SCRs) compared to 60 in 2013-14. A serious case review takes place when an adult/adults have died or suffered serious harm. The 65 SCRs involved a total of 190 adults at risk, of which 30% suffered serious harm and died and 70% suffered serious harm but survived.
The full report can be found at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/sa1415