Editorial

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5042/jap.2010.0639
Date12 November 2010
Published date12 November 2010
Pages2-5
AuthorMargaret Flynn
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Sociology
2 © Pier Professional Ltd The Journal of Adult Protection Volume 12 Issue 4 • November 2010
10.5042/jap.2010.0639
Editorial
‘It seems, as one becomes older,
That the past has another pattern, and ceases to
be a mere sequence –
Or even development: the latter a partial fallacy
Encouraged by superficial notions of evolution,
Which becomes, in the popular mind, a means
of disowning the past.’ (Eliot, 2001)
TS Eliot’s Four Quartet’s offers a useful warning
that we obstruct progress by jettisoning
the past. Memory and roots matter and yet
England’s coalition government appears to
have no memory of what happens when
the NHS is squeezed. Having received the
least feasible increase, which does not offset
the £20 billion ‘efficiency’ cuts, the NHS
continues to deal with relentless demand
when it is immersed in a further reorganisation
upheaval. General practice is to be at the
heart of healthcare delivery with £80 billion a
year at the disposal of GP federations. These
may be social enterprises, public limited
companies, employee owned or a series of
companies delivering different services. In
this NHS shake-up, which places GPs as
expert guides for their patients through health
care, accountability and transparency are
not centre-stage – those considerations were
reserved for the quasi non-governmental
organisations. The question is how do GPs see
their role vis-à-vis safeguarding? In general,
there are low levels of referrals from the
NHS and especially primary care. From the
perspective of safeguarding adults boards,
there are concerns about the cost of change
ie. adult safeguarding requires partnerships
across all sectors, especially the NHS, as
abuse in all its forms has physical and mental
health consequences. Local authorities work
hard to collaborate with NHS colleagues
and significantly, NHS organisations have
elevated concerns regarding abuse by creating
‘lead’ safeguarding nurse roles. The upheaval
is troubling because of its significance for
partnerships and expectations regarding
long-term planning. It does not appear that
the prospective Health Bill will address the
absence of an explicit duty for the NHS to
engage in adult protection, or the panoply of
safeguarding activities. On the upside however,
there is a paper out for consultation, The NHS
Constitution and Whistleblowing (Department
of Health, 2010) – so, with the consultation
of No Secrets (Department of Health, 2009)
apparently in abeyance, this is worth bringing
to the attention of safeguarding adults boards.
In this issue, Lynne Phair and Hazel
Health’s paper concerns the neglect of older
people in care homes. There is no disputing
that this is a long-standing concern. In
October, Parkside House in Northampton
for people with dementia was found to have
appallingstandards of care that were wholly
inattentive to residents’ safety and physical
comfort – irrespective of council monitoring
and regular GP visits. Five residents who died
within a two-week timeframe had suffered
severe neglect’ (Sloper, 2010). Lynne Phair
and Hazel Health propose that ‘health-focused
investigations’ have a critical role in addressing
neglect. It is difficult to share their faith in
such investigations from 2010 onwards as the
prospect of nurses being made redundant is
becoming likely.
Fairness is the coalition government’s
theme. It is also the focus of the Equalities
and Human Rights Commission’s (2010) first
triennial review, How Fair is Britain? This is

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