NICE publishes draft guidance on safeguarding adults in care homes

    Training and professional development a central focus of the guideline

      • Sector News
      • Sector Guidance
    • 03.09.20

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a draft guideline on safeguarding adults in care homes, which places central importance on training and professional development.

    According to the guidance, care homes should ensure that all staff (including contract or temporary staff) attend mandatory training on safeguarding as soon as possible and refresh this knowledge annually. 

    The guideline says that mandatory safeguarding training should be delivered face-to-face whenever possible, either in person or via virtual platforms. 

    Furthermore, it should be live, interactive and eLearning should only be used when face-to-face training is not possible. 

    Courses should also draw upon use case studies and examples to teach staff how safeguarding relates to personalised care and the human rights of residents.

    In addition to mandatory training for staff, the guideline covers what abuse and neglect look like, how to recognise the warning signs and what actions to take if abuse or neglect is suspected. 

    A consultation on the draft recommendations is now open, with stakeholders offered the opportunity to comment until 1 October 2020. The expected publication date is 10 February 2021.

    According to NHS Digital, in 2018/19 there were 415,050 safeguarding concerns of abuse and neglect of adults raised in England, an increase of 5.2% on the previous year.

    CMM: Recognising abuse and neglect in care homes

    NICE: Be aware of the signs of abuse and neglect in adult care homes, says NICE

    Maybo perspective

    It is good to see new guidance on such an important subject. Safeguarding training is often dull, limited and perceived as a tick box exercise.

    Maybo has found that staff across health and social care settings often fail to recognise some of their practices as being restrictive. In response we have created our Understanding human rights and reducing restrictive practices programmes. Available as interactive eLearning and/or taught modules these programmes promote recognition and respect of the human rights of the people we support and care for.

    click here

    Get in touch

    If you would like to discuss how we can help you please get in touch with one of our experts today

    Related ThoughtSpace items

    • Expert Insights

    27.01.26

    Mental Health First Aid vs Mental Health Crisis Response

    Increasingly organisations acknowledge that their teams may at times benefit from everyday mental health support. Many UK based...

    • Expert Insights

    21.01.26 | Healthcare

    From Prediction to Prevention: Embedding Dynamic Violence Risk Assessment in UK Acute Hospitals

    Violence and aggression remain among the most persistent safety challenges facing UK acute hospitals. Despite national standards,...

    • Expert Insights
    • Sector Guidance

    17.10.25 | Healthcare

    Addressing the challenges in Healthcare Security: The importance of a Training Needs Analysis

    Healthcare environments present some of the most complex and demanding challenges for security teams. Balancing safety with empathy,...

    Discuss your training with one of our experts