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Purpose – This paper aims to summarize the work of the Court of Protection. Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the history and range of applications within the jurisdiction of the Court, drawing from the Mental Capacity Act and the Code of Practice. Reference is made to annual reports of the work of the court which profile its workload. Finally there is a review of a line of case law dealing with the question of media attendance and reporting of cases before the court. Findings – The Court in its current form was established under The Mental Capacity Act, 2005 and is a significant decision-making body in the UK within adult safeguarding practice concerning adults whose decision-making capacity is impaired. The implications of several specific cases are discussed. Originality/value – This paper provides a unique insight into the work of the Court of Protection and the implications of recent decisions by the Court for adult safeguarding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to summarise findings of a review of service user and carer involvement in safeguarding and recommendations for good practice. Design/methodology/approach -- The study involved a review of selected literature and a consultation exercise with experts in the field of adult safeguarding and telephone interviews with 13 Adult Safeguarding Leads across England and Wales. Findings -- Service users value rights, independence, choice and support. Adult Safeguarding policy sets out an expectation of service user involvement in the process and expects agencies to balance rights to self-determination with properly managed risk. In practice, agencies tend to be risk-averse and service users often do not feel involved in their safeguarding processes. Processes such as collaborative risk enablement, training and capacity building, working with BME groups and evaluation of involvement help. Good practice examples of involvement in Safeguarding Boards or local forums, developing new methods of user feedback and community involvement were found. Recommendations include more involvement of service users in research, more effective forms of involvement of groups who may be more excluded, shared responsibility for risk, and more training in rights legislation. Practical implications -- The paper offers recommendations for good practice in improving involvement in adult safeguarding, which is a requirement and an essential component of delivering good services to vulnerable adults. Originality/value -- Service user involvement in health and social care is now widespread, but there is little knowledge of how to involve the most vulnerable service users who are in need of protection, or how to balance risk and empowerment. This paper addresses the dilemmas facing Adult Protection staff, summarises the experience of practitioners based on the first decade of adult safeguarding work and sets out guidance for improving practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Commissioned as part of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation scoping programme, this consultation aims to explore the views of disabled people and service users about risk. Design/methodology/approach – The consultation reached nine individuals and one focus group, reaching a total of 17 disabled people and service users. Their views were supplemented by the literature. Findings – The landscape of risk and rights is highly complex. Disabled people and service users have quite different concerns about risk to those of the professionals and the regulatory bodies acting on their behalf. Many people talked of the fear of losing their independence, of asserting their rights and the fear of powerlessness in the face of bureaucracy and (sometimes) uncaring staff. Research limitations/implications – The profile of rights needs to be raised in an accessible and acceptable way: it is necessary to make the language of rights more commonplace. There is a particular need to reach into mental health and residential care services to find ways of enabling people to have their rights realised. The report has implications for risk assessment and risk management as well as for the regulatory bodies responsible in adult social care. Raising awareness among professionals and policy makers about the risks that service users themselves fear and experience should demonstrate just how important it is that the people whose risk is under consideration are involved in the process. Originality/value – This paper highlights the views of users of adult social care about risk; their views have rarely been documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]