In extreme cases, the failure to properly address the alcohol problem can mean that the other support interventions fail, leading to the person’s death.
The report, published today (24 July 2019) by alcohol charity Alcohol Change UK, analyses all 11 Safeguarding Adult Reviews** from England in 2017 in which alcohol was identified as a significant factor in the person’s life and/or death. It charts the stories of people who died in the most tragic of circumstances at a time when they were at their most vulnerable. The report highlights the role that alcohol plays in those situations where vulnerable adults die and draws out essential lessons that may prevent similar tragedies from being repeated.
Although many of these people had dozens or even hundreds of interactions with social workers, paramedics, GPs, police, A&E departments and others, the professional working with them had not received adequate training to identify and address the alcohol elements of the situation. This meant that risks posed by alcohol were missed, under-estimated or poorly managed. In some circumstances, alcohol-dependency and self-neglect were treated as a ‘lifestyle choice’. This led to further barriers in the care of these people – or even the withdrawal of care; and ultimately their deaths.
The reviews tell some tragic stories:
The report makes ten key recommendations, including:
The recent passing of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 is a golden opportunity for change. To help minimise alcohol-related self-neglect, it is crucial that the revised Code of Practice, which comes into force alongside the Act in Spring 2020, includes specific guidance on how to apply the legislation to alcohol-related cases to ensure vulnerable adults, who lack capacity to make specific decisions in relation to their care needs, are much better protected.
Dr Richard Piper, Chief Executive of Alcohol Change UK, said:
“Our report reveals the tragic stories of lives lost in some of the most terrible of circumstances. We as a society owe it to the memories of the people who have died and their families to make the most of the learning from this review to prevent such tragedies in future.
“The recommendations that we offer are workable and urgent, especially for those people who are alive today and are at risk of being the subject of a future Safeguarding Adult Review. Most importantly, professionals who are working hard in the most difficult of circumstances need to receive proper legal backing and much better training in how to handle the genuine complexities of an alcohol problem when it is entwined with other challenging issues.”
The full report ‘Learning from tragedies: an analysis of alcohol-related Safeguarding Adult Reviews’ is available here.
*The real names of the adults in these reviews have not been used.
**A Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) is commissioned by the relevant local authority Safeguarding Adults Board following the death or serious harm of an adult with care and support needs who resides in their area. While each SAR can contain useful learning in its own right, by looking across all alcohol-related SARs in a particular year, this review enables broader patterns of harm and learning to be identified and shared.
Ends.
