Risk of predatory behaviour being ‘normalised’ in adult social care
The independent regulator of health and social care in England has released a report looking at how adult social care services keep people safe from sexual incidents, and how services can support them to express their sexuality.
It found that in adult social care settings, “sex is often treated as a taboo subject” and providers, staff and families can be reluctant to raise issues.
The CQC said: “Building a culture of openness in which people can talk about sexual safety and sexuality is the first step towards protecting and supporting them.”
Kate Terroni, the CQC Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said: “We want this to be the start of an ongoing conversation about a sensitive topic that many people report feeling uncomfortable or poorly equipped to discuss.
“Following a similar report into sexual safety incidents in mental health wards in 2018, we worked with families and people who receive social care and had experienced sexual assault or sexual abuse to develop the themes of this report, along with our inspectors, provider organisations and charities to shine the spotlight on this important topic.
“We hope that by creating this report we are initiating a conversation in adult social care that will lead to a more open culture, where staff feel they can share concerns without fear of reprisal, where people and families are empowered to speak about their wants and needs in a sensitive way, and where managers and providers proactively enable conversations about sexuality to take place.”
Kate added: “In the report we include case studies of shocking abuse, but I also want to be clear that the report shows that these incidents are few and far between. We know that working in adult social care is an incredibly hard job and that the majority of people using services are looked after by caring and skilled staff. To highlight this, the report also contains examples of good practice and has an equal focus on promoting sexuality and empowering people to have healthy relationships if they want to.”
The CQC spoke to people using services and their families and carers. This included people who had been involved in sexual safety incidents, as well as care providers, charities and other stakeholders. Providers are obliged to notify the CQC about certain incidents and events, and it analysed the notifications received from 1 March to 31 May 2018 that were about sexual incidents.
The report concludes:
- a lack of awareness of good practice in sexual safety and sexuality can place people at risk of harm
- a culture must be developed where people and staff feel empowered to talk about sexuality and raise concerns around safety
- as the regulator, the CQC has a strong role in making sure people using services are protected and supported.
It recommends:
- Providers and leaders across adult social care should develop a culture that encourages people and staff to talk about sexuality and raise concerns around safety.
- The development of co-produced guidance for care managers and staff that focuses on how to protect people using adult social care from sexual abuse and how to support them to develop and maintain relationships and express their sexuality.
- CQC should continue to improve the system of provider notifications and how they deal with reported incidents. Through regulation, Inspectors should consider how open cultures are to discuss sex and sexuality and ensure that care plans reflect this.
