Hi all, lately I have been having trouble with my catering role and have spoken about it on here. We have had two safeguarding investigation but no one has really told us about the outcomes or what is happening next. The only outcome was changing mum medicine being given out. No one has spoken to us since the police did a welfare check so still in the dark. I am wondering if it worth considering to contact the safeguarding team to find out some sort of answer?
Hi Michael,
@Charlesh47 will have more experience of advising about this.
However, if it were me I think I would contact them, the worst they can say is that they wonât discuss it with you âŚ
Do you or your parents have an advocate?
Hi Michael. Iâm not an expert in these things, but there is a tendency towards secrecy in safeguarding cases, and this is partly because thereâs always a possibility that the police will look to charging an individual (unlikely in this case as actions have been agreed and the police have not interviewed you since). Also because they aim to protect witnesses or people who have raised concerns. However, they should discuss the situation with you rather than just hand down decisions, and they should be looking at whether you as a carer need support. That is a key area for safeguarding in most areas Iâve checked.
One thing they absolutely should have done from the start was offer an advocate to support you and explain the process. Thatâs a legal requirement where an individual has âsubstantial difficultyâ in understanding the process. As no one has explained it to you, that fits the legal definition. After all, if you donât know the rules, you canât play the game properly. So I suggest, as Melly says, that you do contact them - and ask for a full explanation of what is happening and ask why they havenât yet offered an advocate to support you through the process.
Thanks I will, contact them and see what is said.
Managed to get hold of someone from safeguarding. The outcomes is there are no safeguarding issues only for the social worker to deal with. I wished we were told than have the stress and worry about it.
Communication is the most essential part of safeguarding, you should have been kept informed.
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Good to hear you got a reasonable outcome Michael.
It reminds me of my Uncle who started with dementia but his friends would not accept he was ill (how familiar is that) and started muttering about not knowing what his family was doing with his money (two children have POA) and suddenly there was an investigation.
They each had their personal accounts examined despite having a FULL account of every penny he had, what had been received and what had been paid out with receipts and every penny accounted for. It took three months and they were left in the dark til suddenly a letter arrived saying the âinvestigation has been closedâ. They had to chase to get confirmation that there had been no wrong-doing and it hurt them a lot. You can imagine the local gossip when people heard they were not able to access his accounts to pay bills without a Social Worker countersigning! No one looked at the âbig pictureâ and recognised the situation. His GP refused to diagnose dementia for ages as he has known him all his career and didnât like to label him!!
Itâs terrible that a family can be put through all that without any checks before âinvestigationâ starts and is then kept secret.
@Michael_1910123
Thatâs great news re the outcome; however it could have been handled so much better. Letting you know straightaway would have saved a lot of unnecessary stress and worry.
@Susan_2102123 I totally agree, but fear it doesnât happen often now.
@Chris_22081 it seems the authorities are much quicker to jump to suspicion of family than of care staff and organisations.
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@Melly1 You are right - Care Companies and the like get away with it but families are easy targets! Iâm not saying there arenât cases of financial abuse, but we are easy pickings, arenât we?
This is part of why I donât recommend using care companies. I either only advise a good care home or personal care assistants instead.
@thara_2207 Unfortunately Care homes and Personal Assistants can be abusive too. As in all lots of situations there are those who are trustworthy and do a great job and those who abuse trust and donât.
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I so agree with you Melly
I am under doctorâs orders never to care for anyone ever again, after major cancer surgery. M is a much loved member of my family, but he lives 15 miles away so I have to rely on others to care for him. All I ask is that he is safe, happy, and healthy. Not sure any of those are good, but there is no other option.