Any member of the public, friend, carer, relative or paid worker may become aware of or concerned about abuse in several ways.

• Observed Abuse: the abuse has been directly witnessed.
• Disclosed Abuse: an adult says they are being or have been abused
• Suspected Abuse: there are indicators that abuse is happening, but it has not been witnessed or disclosed.

If you have a concern about an adult at risk of abuse and they are in immediate danger you should first notify the relevant emergency services by ringing 999.

If the adult you are concerned about is not in immediate danger you should report your concern to Milton Keynes Council Adult Social Care by completing a Safeguarding Alert (previously called the SABR1). When reporting any suspected abuse, please make sure that any personal information gathered is kept safe and secure.

If a situation is causing you concern but it is not clear if abuse has occurred or is happening you can talk to:

• Adult Social Care, Access Team (ASCAT) Tel: 01908 253772

  - For out of hours contact the Emergency Social Work Team Tel: 01908 265545

• The Regulatory Authority - The Care Quality Commission. Tel: 03000 616161.

• Thames Valley Police Protecting Vulnerable people Unit (PVP Unit) Tel: 01296 39650; Fax - 01296 396505.

• Milton Keynes CCG Adult Safeguarding Lead  Tel: 01908 278724 (Office hours)

Further details about the responsibilities within health services at both strategic and operational level, can be found in the Safeguarding Adults and Children Policy (Commissioning) 2017

The purpose of this policy is to ensure all staff, including contracted staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities for safeguarding adults, and to provide a framework for accountability at all levels.

A simple guide to the six principles of Safeguarding and assessing capacity can be downloaded here, a limited number of hard copies are available form Milton Keynes CCG Adult Safeguarding lead, please email davidpennington@nhs.net 

The Designated Adult Safeguarding Manager (DASM) for Milton Keynes CCG is David Pennington, please contact him directly if you have any queries related to safeguarding.

The Safeguarding Adults Board is the local group that oversees Safeguarding in Milton Keynes. It is a multi-agency group with representatives from the council, the health service, the police, the voluntary sector and the independent inspection and regulation service

The following documents can all be found on their webpage on the Milton Keynes Council website:

• Milton Keynes Safeguarding Adults Board (MKSAB) Strategy 2014 - 2018 (PDF, 486KB)
• Milton Keynes Safeguarding Adults Board Memorandum of Understanding and Terms of Reference August 2014 (PDF, 522KB)
• Milton Keynes Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2013-2014 (PDF, 222KB)

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) provides a framework to empower and protect people who may lack capacity to make some decisions for themselves.

The Act makes clear who can take decisions in which situations, and how they should go about this. Anyone who works with or cares for an adult who lacks capacity must comply with the MCA when making decisions or acting for that person.

This applies whether decisions are life changing events or more every day matters and is relevant to adults of any age, regardless of when they lost capacity.

Further information on the MCA, including  a copy of the code of practice and information for the public and people who work in health and social care can be found on the Ministry of Justice website:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/protecting-the-vulnerable/mental-capacity-act