Prevention of adult abuse priority for council

A report presented to Shropshire County Council's Community Services Scrutiny panel today (7 February) will look at the results of the Adult Protection Annual Report.

The report advises that the number of staff trained in Adult Protection continues to increase so people are more aware of what adult abuse is and how to report it. Nationally Adult Protection has a higher profile as a result of the work of organisations like Action on Elder Abuse and Comic Relief.

The report also states that an increase in the incidence of abuse cases in Shropshire doesn’t of itself mean that there is now a higher incidence of abuse – it is hoped that as the profile of adult abuse has been raised this is leading to an increase in referrals.

Shropshire County Council provides training for staff and for agencies outside of the council who are involved in investigating Adult Protection referrals. To date 104 staff involved in investigations have attended training and its encouraging the range of agencies that are attending Adult Protection training.

Councillor Ted Clarke, Vice Chair of the panel, said: “The majority of investigations are about the potential abuse of older people and with continued training and public awareness the prevention of abuse against vulnerable people continues to be the focus for Shropshire County Council.”

7 February 2008