Adult Support and Protection Awareness Day 2026

Adult Support and Protection Day take place on the 20^th of February each year, and the Orkney Health and Social Care Partnership is urging everyone to report any concerns to ensure those in need are able to access support.

Keeping Orkney’s vulnerable adults safe from harm is everyone’s responsibility. We recognise that it can be hard to make that phone call to raise a concern when you are worried about yourself, a loved one, a neighbour, a friend or someone you know, however we cannot take steps to protect people if we don’t know about them.

Harm comes in various forms, including but not limited to physical, sexual, neglect, self neglect, emotional and financial harm. We know from our locally held data that there are adults who have experienced these types of harm living in our community, and we have been able to take action to protect them. However, we also know that there are vulnerable adults whom we don’t know about, and in these cases, we rely on the local community to take the first step and alert us.

If you are worried about someone or if something just doesn’t seem right, please tell a professional about your concerns – think of it as an Information Jigsaw: what you know may be an important part of the jigsaw which will help us understand if a person needs support or, if they require protection.

If you are worried that someone may be at risk of harm or neglect or that they may be harming or neglecting themselves, please contact Adult Social Work on 01856 873535 and ask for the Duty Social Worker, or alternatively, if you prefer not to talk to someone, you can email your concerns to asw@orkney.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can contact the Police on 101, or call 999 if you believe the person is in immediate danger.

All services in Orkney, including Social Work, Health, Police Scotland and voluntary agencies, work together to support and protect adults at risk of harm, but it is up to all of us to play our part