SCIE Practice guide 7: Making referrals to the POVA list

Preparing for POVA list referral - Introduction

Practice points in this section:

• Developing local policies
• Developing robust procedures and recording practice
• Increasing staff awareness
• Working with others

Key questions for employers and adult placement organisers

• Do you know about your statutory responsibilities for working with the POVA scheme?
• Have you familiarised yourself with the requirements for making referrals?
• Have you informed your staff about your and their responsibilities?
• Are you familiar with local policies and procedures for protecting vulnerable adults? Have you developed your local policy? Have you made contact with key people locally?

Expectations

• Employers and managers will be familiar with their statutory responsibilities under the POVA scheme and know what to do when they need to make a referral.
• They will have set up the necessary policies, procedures and systems so that they can make effective referrals when the need arises. This includes robust and efficient use of employment procedures for disciplining and dismissal, and the recording of this information, as well as having well-developed local policies in relation to the protection of vulnerable adults. Advice is available from local adult protection coordinators, from local offices of the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Care Standards Inspectorate (Wales) and from the Department of Health website.
• For adult placement schemes, there must be clear procedures for investigating and terminating adult placement carers' approval in cases of misconduct relating to the harm of vulnerable adults. These may involve agreements with local adult protection teams.

Practice overview

Good practice in making referrals is achieved where employers and managers:

• are fully prepared to make referrals
• know what to do and how to do it
• make appropriate use of local contacts
• confidently implement their employment procedures
• provide the POVA team with clear evidence and supporting material.

The key to making an effective referral to the POVA list is to have robust employment and recording practices so that employers and managers can provide clear evidence about individuals who are referred.

The POVA referral itself does not require the provision of any new information. Rather, it consists of the collation of material that flows from normal employment disciplinary procedures where an individual has been considered to have caused harm to a vulnerable adult.

With regard to adult placements, carers are not dismissed but will have their approval as an adult placement carer terminated. The decision to terminate approval is made by an independent panel, based on reports from scheme workers. For more information, see POVA referral for adult placement.