The Government's stated aim to modernise health services has seen the establishment of agencies and safeguards designed to ensure quality and protect patients. This paper considers how those agencies and safeguards may serve to prevent the abuse of vulnerable adults.

The Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) offers a ‘one‐stop‐shop’ for checking the suitability of potential employees to work with adults in health and social care settings. This paper argues that an exploration of the rationale for recruitment decision making following the creation of the CRB...

The White Paper Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century, is shaped by the principles of Legal and Civil Rights, Independence, Choice and Inclusion. These principles are laudable, but this paper argues that in matters of health that are not within the...

An audit of the 12 adult protection cases arising in a south London hospice during 2004 is reported, including case studies illustrating issues arising and information about the introduction of a new policy and procedure following No Secrets guidance (Home Office/Department of Health, 2000)....

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how the proceedings of a vulnerable adult protection policy is understood by referrers to affect the psychological and emotional well‐being of adults with a learning disability. During the research process seven referrers of vulnerable...

This article updates a review submitted to the Department of Health (DH) in the light of the House of Commons Health Select Committee report on Elder Abuse. The review drew on recent research about elder abuse in the UK, including research published after the Select Committee's hearings, that...

The draft Mental Health Bill 2004 proposes transfer of the main monitoring functions of the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC) to the Healthcare Commission (or in practice whatever body succeeds the Healthcare Commission) with the abolition of the MHAC on implementation of the Bill when...

The custody environment is not designed nor can it hope to meet the needs of individuals who are experiencing acute mental distress. The article reports the findings of analysis of the recorded incidents of self‐harm that occurred in the custody of one English police force during an...

Vulnerable adults have recently gained greater protection. A lot of attention has focused on the effect of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, but many significant provisions can be found elsewhere. It may be that those provisions, and the...