What to do if you are worried about a vulnerable adult

Everybody can help adults to live free from harm and abuse. You play an important part in preventing and identifying neglect and abuse.

If you have urgent concerns that you or someone you know, is being abused or neglected, contact the safeguarding adults team at Waltham Forest Direct:

• Call 020 8496 3000 at any time
• Send an email to WFDLiaison@walthamforest.gov.uk
• completing our online referral form to raise a safeguarding concern.

Your contact will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We can help if you or the person are unable to protect themselves and are experiencing or at risk of experiencing abuse.

You or the person you're worried about doesn’t need to be in contact with social workers or health workers to receive this service.

If you think a crime is being or has been committed, or someone is in immediate danger, call the police on 999.

You can report non-urgent crime to the Metropolitan Police online.

Professionals can complete our adult safeguarding alert form online.

Please see the Safeguarding Adults Board page for other documents, forms and reports.

The Care Act 2014 sets out the safeguarding responsibilities of local services and shows some of the forms abuse or neglect can take. This is not a complete list and all cases must be considered individually.

Physical abuse 

Physical abuse includes assault, hitting, slapping, and pushing. It also refers to the misuse of medication, restraint, or inappropriate physical sanctions.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence refers to psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse. This also includes 'honour' based violence.

Sexual exploitation

Sexual exploration involves exploitative situations, contexts, and relationships where adults at risk (or a third person or persons) receive 'something'. Examples of this include food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, or money. They are received as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on them, sexual activities. It affects men as well as women.

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse includes rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, and sexual teasing or innuendo. Sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, indecent exposure, and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting.

Psychological abuse

​​​​​​​Psychological abuse includes emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, and deprivation of contact. It also includes humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, and verbal abuse. Cyberbullying, isolation, or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or supportive networks are also classed as psychological abuse.

Financial or material abuse

This refers to theft, fraud, internet scamming, and coercion in relation to an adult's financial affairs or arrangements. This can include coercion connected to wills, property, inheritance, or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions, or benefits.

Modern slavery

is an overarching term used to describe slavery and human trafficking. There are different types of Modern Slavery – forced labour, forced criminal activity, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, child exploitation and organ harvesting. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment. Victims can be trafficked to the UK from other countries or can be UK nationals. Modern slavery and human trafficking can be large scale organised crime or one individual or a small group of individuals who have close contact with the victim.

• Discriminatory abuse: including forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment; because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
• Organisational abuse: including neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting such as a hospital or care home, for example, or in relation to care provided in one's own home. This may range from one-off incidents to on-going ill-treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.
• Neglect and acts of omission: including ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.
• Self-neglect: this covers a wide range of behaviours including neglecting to care for one's personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding.