Organisational Abuse

Organisational Abuse is the mistreatment, abuse or neglect of an adult at risk by processes or individuals within services which violate the individual’s dignity and human rights.

Organisational Abuse occurs when the routines, systems and regimes of an organisation result in poor or inadequate standards of care and poor practice which affects the setting and denies, restricts the dignity, privacy, choice, independence or fulfilment of adults at risk.

Organisational Abuse can occur in any setting providing health and social care. Characteristics that may infer Organisational Abuse include:

• it is widespread within the setting (the abusive practice is not confined to the practice of a single staff member)
• it is evidenced by repeated instances
• it is sanctioned – it is encouraged or condoned by line managers
• there is an absence of effective monitoring or management oversight by man-agers that has allowed the practice to have occurred
• there are environmental factors (unsuitable buildings, lack of equipment, reliance on temporary staff) that adversely affects the quality of care
• it is systemic (factors such as a lack of training, poor operational procedures, poor supervision and management all significantly contribute to the development of organisationally abusive practice)

Allegations of Organisational Abuse may result in a complex case investigation with implications for resources.

Practitioners must consult the Darlington Safeguarding Partnership Executive Strategy Process [New Window] for guidance in all cases where Organisational Abuse may be an issue.

Further guidance and resources to support practice are available below.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) - SCIE: Types and Indicators of Organisational Abuse [external link].

Local Government Association - Organisational abuse resources [external link]

A toolkit has been agreed and published (August 2024) by the North East Association of Directors for Adult Social Services (ADASS) Safeguarding Adults Network.  It follows a regional benchmarking activity and survey completed by each local authority area to identify what was needed to support more consistent practice relating to organisational abuse processes.

ADASS - Organisational Abuse Regional Toolkit [PDF Document]