Identify two reports on serious failures to protect individuals (ADULTS) from abuse. Write an account that describes the unsafe practices in the reviews. Look on Google under UK failures in adult care
Report 1.
In March 2002, a 30-year-old woman with learning disabilities was admitted to Borders General Hospital in Scotland with multiple injuries as a result of sustained physical and sexual assaults. The abuse had been carried out at home and was perpetrated by three men, one of whom was her carer. ‘The case of the vulnerable adult’ is the term that the individual involved has asked to be used. Her identity is protected under rules giving anonymity to victims of rape.
The woman had made allegations against one of the perpetrators as a child but agencies decided her mother could protect her. When her mother died, he was allowed to become her carer, making her sleep on a carpet in the hall at his home. He began taking the woman’s benefit money, deprived her of food and liquid and made her sit in the dark for long periods. Together with two friends he forced her to strip, shaved her head, sexually assaulted her and repeatedly stamped on her face and body. They also threw the woman over a fence, handcuffed her to a door and set fire to her clothing.
The police, health and social services had been aware of allegations of abuse dating back to the woman’s childhood. These had been investigated and reported to the Procurator Fiscal but she was considered an unreliable witness due to her learning disability.
This report is full of unsafe practice and people in authority have failed to protect the woman as a result of this. The unsafe practice started when the woman was just a little girl, she had made allegations against one of the perpetrators but agencies decided her mother could protect her. The agencies should have taken the allegations seriously and not assumed her mother could have protected her. They could have done things such as carrying out