You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink: how effective is staff training in the prevention of abuse of adults?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a research project designed to determine the qualifications held by those staff who had perpetrated abuse in private sector care and nursing homes for older people during a 12-month period. Design/methodology/approach A self-completion, postal questionnaire was issued to the safeguarding teams of all local authorities in England with adult social care responsibilities to determine the qualifications held by staff who were proven to have perpetrated abuse in these facilities. Findings Though findings with respect to qualified nurses who had perpetrated abuse when considered in isolation were inconclusive in numerical terms, the proportion of all nursing and care staff who had perpetrated abuse, and who held either a professional or vocational qualification was high. Research limitations/implications Responses to the postal questionnaire represented 21.8 per cent of local authorities with social services responsibilities, yet the data secured suggests that care providing staff who have received recognised training are disproportionately represented among those proven to have perpetrated abuse. Originality/value Findings indicate that recognised training for those who provide care in care and nursing homes is of limited efficacy in the prevention of abuse.