8.2. Capacity All persons should be supported to act according to their own wishes. Only in exceptional circumstances (and these should be communicated to the service user/resident when they occur where possible) should decisions and actions be taken that conflict with a person’s wishes, for example to meet a legal responsibility to report or to prevent immediate and significant harm. As far as possible, people should be supported to communicate their concerns to relevant agencies. A key challenge for the Anne Sullivan Centre arises in relation to capacity and consent. It is necessary to consider if a resident/service user can give meaningful consent to an act, relationship or situation which is being considered as possibly representing abuse. While no assumptions must be made regarding lack of capacity, it is clear that abuse occurs when the vulnerable person does not or is unable to consent to an activity or when other barriers to consent exist, for example, where the person may be experiencing intimidation or coercion. For a valid consent to be given, consent must be full, free and informed. It is important that all residents/service users are supported in making their own decisions about how they wish to deal with concerns or complaints. Residents/Service users should be assured that his/her wishes concerning a complaint will only be overridden if it is considered essential for his/her own safety or the safety of others or arising from legal responsibilities. 8.3. Advocacy Advocacy assumes an important role in enabling people to know their rights and voice their concerns. The role of an advocate is to ensure that individuals have access to all the relevant and accurate information to allow them to be able to make informed choices. Vulnerable persons can be marginalised in terms of health, housing, employment and social participation. Advocacy is one of the ways of supporting and protecting vulnerable persons. Advocacy services may be preventative in that they can enable vulnerable persons to express themselves in potentially, or actual abusive situations. The Anne Sullivan Centre has an Advocates policy based on the needs of residents and their various communication methods, facilitated by staff, volunteers and family members
Date that concern or allegations were notified to the Designated Officer: Who has raised this concern or allegation? Self  Family  Service Provider Healthcare staff  Gardaí  Other  (please specify) Type of concern or category of suspected abuse: Physical Abuse  Sexual Abuse  Psychological Abuse  Financial / Material Abuse  Neglect / Acts of Omission  Extreme Self-neglect  Discrimination  Institutional  Setting / Location of concern or suspected abuse: Own Home  Relatives Home  Residential Care  Day Care  Other(please specify) Is this concern/allegation linked to another preliminary screening? If so please give reference Are there any concerns re: decision making capacity? Yes  No  Are you aware of any formal assessment of capacity being undertaken? Yes  No  Outcome: Is the Vulnerable person aware that this concern has been raised? Yes  No  What is known of the vulnerable person’s wishes in relation to the concern / allegation? Are other agencies involved in service provision with this vulnerable person that you are aware of? Yes  No  If yes, Details: Details of the first point of contact: Name: Address: Phone: Nature of relationship to vulnerable person (i.e. family member/ advocate etc):