If you, or an adult you know is experiencing or is at risk of abuse or neglect please don’t ignore it. Report a concern.
If you are worried about adult abuse or neglect, help and support is available. You can raise a safeguarding concern to Reading Borough Council, Adult Care and Health Services. We will take your concern seriously and will ensure this is looked into.
Adult Safeguarding means protecting adults at risk, enabling them to live safely and free from abuse and neglect. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
A safeguarding concern is where you have reasonable cause to suspect that an adult who may have care and support needs is at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect.
Care and support needs refer to the extra help some people require to manage their daily lives and to be independent. This includes people experiencing:
Age alone doesn’t indicate care and needs but older people are at higher risk of developing conditions that can lead to the onset of care and support needs.
Abuse and neglect happen when someone is hurt or treated badly. It can be accidental, deliberate or due to a lack of training. There doesn’t need to be an injury for abuse to have taken place. If a person is being abused in one way, they are often also being abused in other ways.
When you raise a safeguarding concern, you’ll be asked which form or forms of abuse and neglect you think the person is at risk of, or experiencing.
The person alleged to have caused or who poses a risk of harm, may be well known to the person at risk and could include:
Abuse and neglect can occur in any setting and could include:
Signs of abuse can often be difficult to detect. People who come into contact with adults with care and support needs to identify abuse and recognise possible indicators. Find out more about the types and indicators of abuse and neglect.
Remember that many forms of abuse are also criminal offences and should be treated that way.
Anyone can raise a safeguarding concern. For example, they might be friends, family members, carers, professionals working with adults with care and support needs, or someone who thinks they have been abused or neglected.
If you have reasonable cause to suspect that an adult who may have care and support needs is at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, then you should raise a safeguarding concern with Reading Borough Council.
When you raise a safeguarding concern, we will:
Age alone doesn’t indicate care and needs but older people are at higher risk of developing conditions that can lead to the onset of care and support needs.
You may have a concern which isn’t about adult abuse or neglect but you feel the person is vulnerable because of some other form of risk. For example, your concern may be about someone under the age of 18 years or the quality or safety of a care or NHS service, fire safety, domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour, etc. Use the links below for the contact details of the organisations who will be able to help you:
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, phone the police on 999, or call them on 101 if it is less urgent.
If your request is urgent and you need support in the next 24 hours contact Reading Borough Council on 0118 937 3747 during opening times or 01344 351 999 for out-of-hours emergencies.
For Deaf Access Text 999 or Emergency Minicom Text Relay on 18000. You must be registered to use this service.
If your concern is not urgent then you can use one of the online forms below to raise your concern.
At busy times, there may be a wait for your call to be answered.
0118 937 3747
Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm
This is an emergency service only.
01344 351 999
5.00pm to 9.00am
All day weekends and Bank Holidays
Our video explains when and how you should raise a safeguarding concern.
A safeguarding concern is where you have reasonable cause to suspect that an adult who may have care and support needs is at risk of, or experiencing, abuse or neglect.