Abstract
Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) for adults are commissioned to examine the ways in which local professionals and agencies worked together to safeguard a vulnerable adult or take place following harm or death of a vulnerable adult where there are concerns about agencies' actions or engagement. There is no national system in England for their collation or analysis. This paper presents the results of a study investigating SCRs for vulnerable adults where the person who was at risk of harm, harmed or died had a learning disability. Eighteen SCRs were identified and a further three where there are grounds for considering that the victim may have had such a disability. Three themes are presented: staff relationships; family and carers; and biography and chronology to draw out material relevant to social work policy and practice. At a time when the English government has announced plans for SCRs for adults to move to a statutory basis, this paper draws attention to their potential as learning materials, but also the risks of seeing them as presenting a full picture of practice. The case for local flexibility is argued.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 331-348 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | British Journal of Social Work |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
Keywords
- adult safeguarding
- learning disability
- Serious case reviews
- social work