Safeguarding is one of the most important responsibilities a care home carries. It means protecting residents from abuse, neglect and exploitation, and creating an environment where every person feels safe, respected and able to raise concerns without fear.
For families in the Midlands, the West Midlands, and across the South East, understanding how a care home approaches safeguarding is one of the most important questions to ask before placing a loved one in care.
What Does Safeguarding Mean in a Care Home?
Safeguarding is the term used to describe the measures put in place to protect vulnerable adults from harm. In a care home setting, this means:
- Preventing abuse, whether physical, emotional, financial or sexual
- Protecting residents from neglect or poor care practice
- Ensuring residents are not exploited or taken advantage of
- Responding promptly and properly when concerns arise
- Upholding every resident’s right to make their own decisions, where they have capacity to do so
The Care Act 2014 placed safeguarding adults on a clear statutory footing in England. It established that local authorities have a lead role in coordinating safeguarding activity, and that all care providers have a legal duty to promote the wellbeing and safety of the people in their care.
The Six Principles of Adult Safeguarding
The Care Act 2014 introduced six core principles that underpin all adult safeguarding work in England. Good care homes apply these not just in policy but in the day-to-day culture of how staff treat and interact with residents.
| Principle | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|
| Empowerment | Residents are supported to make their own decisions and give informed consent |
| Prevention | Action is taken before harm occurs, not just after |
| Proportionality | Responses are proportionate to the level of risk and the wishes of the individual |
| Protection | Vulnerable people receive the support and representation they need |
| Partnership | Local services work together to prevent and respond to abuse |
| Accountability | Transparency and accountability underpin all safeguarding practice |
Types of Abuse in Care Settings
Abuse can take many forms, and it does not always look the way families expect. It can be carried out by staff, by other residents, by family members or visitors, or it can arise from systemic failures in care practice.
Physical abuse includes hitting, restraining inappropriately, or administering medication without consent.
Emotional or psychological abuse includes humiliation, threats, isolation or ignoring a resident’s emotional needs.
Financial abuse includes theft, fraud, misuse of a resident’s funds, or pressure to change a will or power of attorney.
Neglect includes failing to provide adequate food, hydration, medical attention, or personal care.
Sexual abuse includes any non-consensual contact or behaviour of a sexual nature.
Discriminatory abuse includes treatment that demeans a person based on their age, disability, gender, race, religion or other characteristic.
Organisational abuse includes poor practice across a care setting as a whole, such as rigid routines, lack of choice or a culture in which residents are not treated with dignity.
What Good Safeguarding Looks Like Day to Day
Safeguarding is not a document kept in a filing cabinet. It is visible in the daily culture of a well-run care home.
Signs that a home takes safeguarding seriously include:
- Staff who know residents well enough to notice changes in behaviour or mood
- A clear process for raising concerns, which all staff understand
- Regular safeguarding training for every member of the team, including domestic and kitchen staff
- An open culture where staff feel safe to raise concerns about colleagues without fear of reprisal
- Residents who feel listened to and whose preferences and complaints are taken seriously
- Transparent communication with families about any incidents or concerns
“At Blissful Care Homes, safeguarding is not a separate layer of policy. It runs through everything we do. Every member of our team, from our care leads to our housekeeping staff, understands their responsibility to protect the people in our care and to speak up if something does not feel right.”
Blissful Care Homes
Safeguarding and the CQC
The Care Quality Commission inspects care homes against five key questions: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led? Safeguarding sits primarily under Safe and Well-led, but it touches all five areas.
Inspectors will look at whether:
- Staff have completed appropriate safeguarding training
- The home has a designated safeguarding lead
- Incidents are recorded and investigated properly
- The home reports concerns to the local authority’s safeguarding team as required
- Residents and families are kept informed when incidents occur
Families looking at care homes across Leicestershire, Birmingham, Worcestershire or Middlesex can check a home’s CQC reports at cqc.org.uk to understand how safeguarding has been assessed at their most recent inspection.
Safeguarding and Dementia
Residents living with dementia can be particularly vulnerable, and safeguarding in dementia care requires additional sensitivity. People with dementia may not be able to report concerns, may be unable to give or withdraw consent clearly, and may be susceptible to financial exploitation or emotional manipulation.
Good dementia safeguarding involves ensuring care plans are up to date and properly followed, that restraint is never used inappropriately, that any lasting power of attorney arrangements are respected, and that changes in a resident’s behaviour are taken seriously and investigated.
Understanding how dementia progresses is an important part of safeguarding residents effectively. Our article on the different stages of dementia explains what families can expect as the condition develops.
What Families Can Do
Families play an important role in safeguarding. Regular visits, open communication with care staff and paying attention to changes in a loved one’s mood, behaviour or physical condition are all valuable.
If you have concerns about a loved one’s safety or welfare in a care home, you should:
- Raise the concern directly with the care home manager in the first instance
- If you are not satisfied with the response, contact the local authority’s adult safeguarding team
- In Birmingham, (covering New Day) contact Adult Social Care on 0121 303 1234
- In Leicester, (covering Hayes Park) contact Adult Social Care on 0116 454 1004
- In Worcestershire (covering Bricklehampton Hall), contact the Safeguarding Adults team on 01905 822666
- In the London Borough of Hillingdon (covering Coppermill Care), contact Adult Safeguarding on 01895 556633
- In Milton Keynes (covering The Lindens), contact the Adult Safeguarding team on 01908 252835
- In West Berkshire (covering Broadmead in Newbury), contact the Safeguarding Adults team on 01635 519056
- You can also report concerns directly to the CQC at cqc.org.uk
You should contact the police immediately if you believe a crime has been committed or a person is in immediate danger.
Safeguarding and the Right to Choose
An important principle of adult safeguarding is that it must never override a person’s right to make their own decisions. A resident who has mental capacity has the right to take risks, to refuse care, and to make choices that others may disagree with. Safeguarding is about protecting people from harm at the hands of others, not about controlling the choices of adults who are capable of making them.
Where a person lacks capacity, decisions must be made in their best interests under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, with input from those who know them well.
“Protecting our residents does not mean limiting them. At Blissful Care Homes, we believe that safety and independence go hand in hand. Our job is to create an environment where residents feel secure enough to live their lives on their own terms.”
Blissful Care Homes
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if I suspect a family member is being abused in a care home?
Raise the concern with the home manager first. If you are not satisfied, contact your local authority’s adult safeguarding team or the CQC. If you believe a crime has been committed, contact the police.
Are care homes legally required to report safeguarding concerns?
Yes. Care homes have a duty under the Care Act 2014 to report concerns to the local authority. They are also required to submit a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) application to the local authority where a resident lacks capacity and restrictions are in place for their safety.
How do I know if a care home takes safeguarding seriously?
Ask the home manager how safeguarding is handled, what training staff receive, and whether there is a designated safeguarding lead. You can also read the home’s CQC reports, which will indicate how safeguarding practice has been assessed.
Can a resident refuse care for their own safety?
Yes, if they have mental capacity. Adults with capacity have the right to make decisions that others may consider unwise. Safeguarding must respect personal autonomy.
Talk to Our Team
If you are considering care for a loved one and want to understand how we approach safeguarding at our homes across Leicester, Birmingham, Worcestershire and Middlesex, we are happy to walk you through our approach.
You may also find our guide to choosing the right care home and our article on what to look for in a care home useful as you research your options.
