Useful resources for professionals

Nottingham City Practice Development Unit (PDU)

For a huge range of fantastic free resources on supporting vulnerable adults with mental health, homelessness, substance misuse, domestic abuse, and offending, visit the Practice Development Unit. This includes a webinar recording on Nottingham city’s multi-agency responses to cuckooing.

Supporting Carers: Carers Federation Quality Standard in Carer Support (QSCS)

Many carers juggle their caring role alongside other responsibilities such as employment and education. The practical and emotional demands of caring can be both stressful and overwhelming. For many carers, this means their own health and wellbeing are often neglected.

Evidence highlights the scale of this challenge:

• 70% of carers encounter health professionals, yet only 10% are identified as carers
• 39% of carers have delayed or avoided medical treatment due to caring responsibilities
• 51% admit to missing GP appointments because of their caring role
• Over 3 million people in the UK combine paid employment with caring — around 1 in 9 of the workforce
• Almost one in four carers have given up work to care for an ill, disabled, or older relative or friend

The Carers Federation Quality Standard in Carer Support (QSCS) has been developed to accredit organisations that demonstrate a clear commitment to supporting carers. The QSCS helps organisations to:

• Raise awareness of unpaid carers
• Improve identification of carers
• Reduce barriers faced by carers
• Develop effective policies and procedures
• Improve access to appropriate support

The QSCS showcases good practice in supporting carers across the wider community. When carers are recognised and well supported, safeguarding risks are reduced for both the carer and the person they care for.

The QSCS has been developed in partnership with carers, in direct response to what carers and professionals told Carers Federation they needed. It has been designed and steered by carers over a ten-year period, aligning with the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Adults Board (NCSAB) commitment to co-production. The standard has been piloted both locally and nationally and aligns with the Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council Joint Carers Strategy, developed alongside carers and health partners: https://carershub.carersfederation.co.uk/joint-carers-strategy/

The accreditation process

Organisations receive tailored support, information, guidance, training, and resources to develop an organisation-wide action plan, supported by a dedicated QSCS worker.

The QSCS framework is based on 6–8 criteria, which may include: identification of carers, staff training, management involvement, policies and procedures, designated staff leads, responsive ongoing support, and effective signposting.

Organisations must demonstrate and evidence how they meet the criteria through a pre-assessment and final assessment process.

The accreditation process typically takes approximately 12 months to complete and is valid for three years. Re-accreditation also lasts for three years.

The number of criteria, cost, and time commitment vary depending on the QSCS type and the nature of the organisation.

QSCS accreditations are available for primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, employers, and medical practices.

The Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) recognises that unrecognised and unsupported carers have been a recurring theme in local Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) and the National Second SAR Analysis. We therefore strongly encourage agencies in Nottingham City to consider working with Carers Federation to explore how their service can achieve the Quality Standard in Carer Support, by contacting:

Email: QSCS@carersfederation.co.uk

Emma Whatson: 07852 354 804

Jane Walsh: 07525 237730

Get me to hospital: When and how to use the Mental Capacity Act to convey a person to hospital for physical health treatment

This guide originated from evidence which demonstrates that practitioners struggle to make these decisions and focuses on issues of supporting people under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), not the Mental Health Act – who are assessed as unable to make their own decision to be conveyed to hospital for physical treatment, and require a decision to be made, in their best interests.

The focus of this guide is to support both the individual when they are at the centre of decisions relating to conveyance to hospital, and the practitioner responsible for arranging, or undertaking, conveyance of the individual. It also looks to address potential health inequalities where individuals have been known to die from preventable conditions because professionals have not used the MCA, correctly.

While this guide discusses implementation of the MCA, we would always advise that you seek legal advice if you are unsure and experience complex situations that involve refusal to attend hospital, where possible.

Guidance for International Workers in the UK Care Sector

Justice and Care and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) have produced a video designed to support international care workers in the UK and raise awareness of their rights following the closure of the Social Care Visa Route which came into effect in July 2025.

Between January and September 2023, over 117,000 health and care visas were granted, an increase of 133% on the previous year. While many employers follow the rules, there has been a rise in exploitation cases, including workers arriving in the UK burdened by excessive recruitment fees, often after selling property or taking on debt.

The video features real-life accounts from care workers and urges prospective workers to avoid agencies that charge illegal recruitment fees or impose exploitative conditions. It provides clear, practical guidance on visa sponsorship, daily life in the UK, and how to spot signs of labour abuse.

Discriminatory Abuse

Discriminatory Abuse is described in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance in terms of ‘forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion’ (Section 14.17).

The Local Government Association (LGA) have produced a useful toolkit to help identify discriminatory abuse as well as a practitioner briefing with key messages, case learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews and a focus on Skills – ‘How might I put this into practice?’. The tool is intended to support councils, Safeguarding Adult Boards (SABs), practitioners from all sectors, staff responsible for reporting adult social care (ASC) performance; safeguarding leads and commissioners. The practitioner briefing forms part of a larger piece of work, and series of activities and resources, to gain a better understanding of discriminatory abuse, how to recognise equality characteristics in case management, and more broadly recognise unconscious bias and discrimination in practice, approaches and strategies within adult safeguarding.

Research in Practice have published a podcast on ‘Discriminatory Abuse – Developing Practice Responses’ which is available on Soundcloud:

The Keeping Safe Bristol Partnership have kindly allowed us to share the resources and information below on Discriminatory Abuse, which includes links to resources, Safeguarding Adults Reviews, a video:

Reviews Highlighting Discriminatory Abuse

Discriminatory abuse has been highlighted in many national and local safeguarding reviews as an area of concern for professionals.

• Less than 1 per cent of the 149,540 Section 42 safeguarding enquiries raised in 2020/21 were linked to Discriminatory Abuse (Safeguarding Adults, England, 2020-21: Experimental Statistics).  
• Less than 2 per cent of the Safeguarding Adults Reviews from April 2019-March 2023 were completed under the category of Discriminatory Abuse (Second National Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews: April 2019 – March 2023).
•  Rates of reported disability hate crime – an allied form of abuse – have increased in recent years. A total of 9,208 disability hate crimes were reported in 2020/21 (an increase of 9 per cent on the year before and an increase of 449 per cent since 2012) (Hate Crime Statistics).  

National reviews:

Specific Issues Highlighted From Reviews

Out of these reviews some specific topics have been highlighted:

Hate Crime

A hate crime is a criminal offence which has been perceived by the victim as being motivated by prejudice and/or hate. Discriminatory abuse can often be classed as hate crime and vice versa.

Hate crime is highlighted as a specific issue in the Fiona Pilkington case above.

Further resources on hate crime:

Hate crime | Nottinghamshire Police

Information on Hate Crime – Nottingham City Council

Hate Crime – Nottinghamshire Victim Care

Stop Homophobic, Transphobic, Racial, Religious & Disability Hate Crime – True Vision (report-it.org.uk)

Microsoft Word – How to stand by me_FINAL_1.doc (mencap.org.uk)

disability_hate_crime_guide_for_carers_and_supporters_september_2020.pdf (report-it.org.uk)

Organisations That Can Help – True Vision (report-it.org.uk)

SARI – Stand Against Racism & Inequality (saricharity.org.uk)

Hate-Crime-7MB-For-Partners_.pdf (lancashiresafeguarding.org.uk)

You can find national data on hate crime here

Mate Crime

Mate crime is when an individual befriends someone in order to exploit them in a criminal manner. Often the people targeted are disabled and so this becomes a form of discriminatory abuse.

In the examples above, mate crime is a feature of both the Steven Hoskin and the Gemma Hayter reviews. There was also a Thematic Review local to Bristol which was carried out in relation to this issue specifically.

See below a video explaining mate crime: 

Tricky Friends

This short local video contains advice on mate crime and is mainly aimed at adults with learning disabilities who may be exploited by people they see as friends. You may like to share this video with adults you support, their family, friends and carers so they are better informed about what to do if they find themselves in this situation. If you are concerned someone you support is experiencing mate crime, you could watch this video together as a way of starting those difficult conversations and determining whether a safeguarding referral is needed.

Blue Apple Theatre – See No Evil

A short film by Blue Apple Theatre featuring Mencap Myth Buster Tommy Jessop, it raises awareness of cuckooing and how this might affect people with a learning disability.

LGBTQIA+ Abuse

In a 2021 report it was stated that two-thirds of LGBTQIA+ people had experienced violence or abuse as a result of their identification or sexuality. The Peter Farquhar review above is a further example of this and there are many more. A 2017 government survey further displays the extent of the issue: National LGBT Survey Report.

Resources for professionals to help tackle this issue can be found here:

working-with-victims-of-anti_lgbt-hate-crimes-1.pdf (report-it.org.uk)

online-crime-2020_0.pdf (report-it.org.uk)

hate-crime-report-2019.pdf (report-it.org.uk)

Making Safeguarding Personal

A sector-led initiative which aims to develop outcomes focus on safeguarding work and a range of responses to support people to improve or resolve their circumstances. Local

To read several MSP reports, guidance, and a list of audio and visual resources visit the Local Government Association’s MSP pages.

Cultural etiquette

Organisations need to be aware of some cultural etiquettes that would help foster good relations with our communities, and between professionals and members of staff. Here are some tips produced by Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue for interacting with members of our local diverse communities.

Homelessness Resources

The Museum of Homelessness (MoH) was founded in 2015 and is created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness.

Museum of Homelessness, led by the community, does four things:

• Educate on homelessness by working with artists and creatives to make unforgettable art, exhibitions and events.

• Make tomorrow’s history by building the national collection for homelessness

• Take direct practical action in support of the community

• Fight injustice with their independent research and campaigning

Below are links to a report of findings on homeless deaths, and a webinar recording on working across housing, social care and safeguarding to tackle long-term rough sleeping.

Professional Curiosity

Nationally and locally, professional curiosity is a theme coming though in learning from reviews. To support professionals to understand what professional curiosity is and how to apply it in practice, the National SAB Managers Network has produced a toolkit. Please note that in addition to this toolkit, you should also ensure you are familiar with your own agency escalation policies.

Equation have also produced a powerful video on professional curiosity which highlights learning from a local Domestic Homicide Review.

Cuckooing

What is Cuckooing?

Exploitation is typified by a power imbalance which perpetrators use to force, coerce, entice, and/or manipulate victims for material, social or other gain. This offence can be committed by individuals and/or groups.

The perpetrator usually, but not always, provides something a victim ‘needs’ as part of a grooming process. This need can include money, clothes, food or be relationship-based including assertions ofaffection, friendship, and support. The victim is then ‘indebted’ to the perpetrator and forced,coerced and/or manipulated into harmful situations. Victims often do not realise that they are beingexploited and can feel responsible for what is happening.

Cuckooing is a form of exploitation, it is the term used to describe a situation where a person’s home is taken over by another individual or a group of individuals through coercion and/or force. It is sometimes referred to as ‘home takeover’.

In Nottingham City, the SERAC (Slavery Exploitation Risk Assessment Conference) has been established to provide a forum where suspected or known cases of exploitation/slavery/trafficking can be discussed, in confidence, with an open exchange of information so that a multi-agency plan of action can be developed. To achieve this all organisations involved will sign up to a Confidentiality Statement (this will be circulated prior to the meeting and verbal agreement given if virtual). The aim of this is to increase effectiveness and co-operation between agencies through the SERAC to result in better service provision, greater protection for victims and better outcomes and safeguarding interventions for individuals who have been exploited. The SERAC is led by the Slavery and Exploitation Team at Nottingham City Council and has been recognised nationally as an example of good practice.

Examples of Outcomes:

Reduce pressure/demand on emergency services and statutory agencies

Supporting police investigations

Feed into National Referral Mechanism referrals

Appropriate accommodation sourced

Safety planning – POI, safe and well checks, lock changes, emergency accommodation, flags on systems

Capacity assessments

Safeguarding/other agency referrals and identification of appropriate advocate

Support to return to home country (when desired)

Continuation of monitoring – CPOs, NPT, POW, housing managers

Civil actions – prohibition orders, injunctions

The following resources have been endorsed and shared by the SAB National Cuckooing Task and Finish Group.

Cuckooing – when gangs take over your home – BBC – ‘Cuckooing’: When drug gangs take over your own home – BBC News

The University Of Leeds has recently released their ‘Preventing and Disrupting Cuckooing Victimisation Toolkit‘. The toolkit includes the following resources:

-Cuckooing Information Booklet for Professionals

-A Cuckooing Risk Identification Tool

-The Cuckooing Safeguarding Process

-The Cuckooing Safeguarding Process (West Yorkshire)

Key Contacts (West Yorkshire)

-Know The Signs Poster (A3/A40

-Leaflet – Public

-Leaflet – Professionals