Audit Adult Safeguarding

Every year over 5,500 people contact Adult Safeguarding (HSE) Ireland with concerns vulnerable elderly people over the age of 65- many living with dementia – are being neglected or abused. However, we believe some of Adult Safeguarding current policies and practices enable abuse and endanger elderly people rather than protecting them.

No one is currently monitoring Adult Safeguarding effectiveness. We are campaigning for the Irish government to oversee an immediate audit of Adult Safeguarding to see how effective they really are at protecting Ireland’s most vulnerable people from the various types of abuse they claim they have ‘zero tolerance’ for. We need your help encouraging the government to make this happen.

Adult Safeguarding’s Concerning Policies and Practices

Saying people with dementia need to self report their abuse before they will act.
Claim they need consent from people living with dementia to stop them being abused
Taking weeks to respond to elderly abuse calls
Some HSE staff (doctors, nurses) completely ignore or dismiss safeguarding reports.
Claim they don’t examine evidence – how can they determine abuse isn’t happening without looking at evidence?
In some cases, Adult Safeguarding staff don’t try to see or speak to the victims.
Staff can make decisions based solely on what the suspected abusers say e.g. “They (suspected abuser) said no abuse was happening so we closed the case.” while not seeing or speaking to the victim and refusing to examine evidence.
Staff can have no expertise in elder abuse or dementia training
We suspect that, in some instances, the HSE is intentionally delaying diagnosing people with dementia in order to save money instead of protecting them.
The HSE condones staff falsifying medical records concealing suspected dementia diagnosis
Allows unqualified staff to (mis)diagnose dementia “they seem fine” based on quick visits without doing any capacity tests which the law requires.
Therefore not putting in necessary safeguarding support
No transparency on what their solutions are
Trying to silence whistleblowers

We believe these practices and policies do not reflect a ‘zero tolerance’ stance on abuse.

We Are Calling For an Independent Audit of Adult Safeguarding to determine how effective Adult Safeguarding really is at protecting vulnerable elderly people from abuse and implementing effective safeguarding measures for people living with dementia.

This Audit Must Be:

External and independent — not controlled by the HSE or Department of Health or anyone connected to the HSE who could try and conceal the depth of the problem – ideally an international human rights organization who specializes in elder abuse.
Experts in their field.
Transparent, with findings made public so that families, victims, and the Irish people can see the truth.

How You Can Help

Sign the petition on https://chng.it/jwsm5vxKwX
Tag the Minister for Health @jennifer_carrollmacneill or your local politician on social media demanding #AuditAdultSafeguarding #ZeroMeansZero
Email the minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill jennifer.carrollmacneill@oir.ie