Adult protection legislation risks leaving people unprotected by setting too high a threshold for intervention, a safeguarding expert has warned.
Lower-level incidents risk being missed by government plans to provide statutory protection to people who may need care, are unable to safeguard themselves and are at risk of "significant harm", as opposed to "harm", said Shirley Williams.
Williams, a consultant and independent chair of Blackburn with Darwen Safeguarding Adults Board, was speaking at a Community Care adult safeguarding conference yesterday. Earlier, Department of Health official Robert Parsons had revealed that forthcoming legislation was likely to set a significant harm threshold for adult protection proceedings – in line with child protection and the current No Secrets guidance on safeguarding adults.
Parsons, the DH's policy lead on safeguarding legislation, stressed the plan was provisional and subject to further discussions around the government's forthcoming adult social care White Paper, which would itself be subject to consultation before a parliamentary bill is published.
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