Purpose – Serious case reviews (SCRs) are one means of learning the lessons arising from adverse, salient incidents and tragedies. Adult Safeguarding Boards in England are expected to have an SCR policy and procedure, to commission SCRs, to abstract and act on the learning, and to monitor the...

We have been researching the distinctive ethical issues raised by what we have called ‘the reset period’, when non-Covid services resumed alongside the continuing pandemic in the UK. In this commentary, we will first consider the similarities and differences between the reset and contingency...

There are a great many people with mental health problems receiving treatments that are aimed primarily at managing aggressive or challenging behaviours by means of sedation, seclusion or restraint. The management of these behaviours is frequently justified under Part IV of the Mental Health Act...

Purpose – Adult Safeguarding Boards are the means by which local authorities in England and Wales seek to work collaboratively to protect adults at risk of abuse. The last two years have heralded the emergence of the role of Independent Chairs. This paper seeks to outline the experience of...

The impetus for this paper was the Channel 5 documentary Who Cares for Gary? and the combined efforts of the author, her family and friends to challenge practice within one of the units featured. The paper describes a fundamentally disruptive sequence of decisions and events in the life of the...