Hounslow is one of the only boroughs in the country to hold an adult abuse awareness week The event is taking place next week and Abu Kamara and John Calvert, the borough's safeguarding adults co-ordinators, are leading the way in protecting vulnerable people and raising the profile of adult abuse.

Since the co-ordinator role was set up in 2002 the number of reported cases has shot up by over six times with 237 referrals made so far this year.

But this is not a sign that abuse is getting worse but that more people in the community are trying to prevent adults being mistreated.

The team has gone for a hands-on approach and over 2,000 people have been trained in dealing with adult abuse.

Mr Kamara said: "We target every professional who works with vulnerable adults.

"If we went to a nursing home we would speak to staff who are carers, kitchen assistants, window cleaners, domestic staff, gardeners.

"We target everyone because we believe that if you work in an environment where there are vulnerable adults you should be in a position to know what to do if you witness an abuse or hear about an abuse."

Abuse can take many forms including physical, psychological and financial as well as discrimination and neglect.

The policy for protecting vulnerable adults in the borough has been signed by five agencies, which are West Middlesex Hospital, the police, West London Mental Health Trust, Hounslow Primary Care Trust and Social Services.

Mr Kamara said: "A lot of abuse is happening in people's own homes behind closed doors but what we're trying to bring out to people is that abuse can happen anywhere.

"We don't want people to be in a position where there's domestic violence or somebody's been given too much medication and they think that's not for adult protection.

"We try to bring all these topics together so that people know that there are so many ways a person can be abused."

As well as advising other professionals and providing training, Mr Kamara and Mr Calvert investigate abuse allegations.

A strategy meeting is called to bring all the relevant people together to decide what course of action is necessary.

In cases where people need to be protected from their perpetrators, the team would consider moving the victim to a place of safety. If a member of staff is implicated in an allegation that person would not be allowed to work with vulnerable adults during the investigation.

The police would be contacted immediately with reports of sexual, physical or financial abuse and their own investigation would take over.

Mr Kamara said: "The most rewarding part is when you know that you have investigated a case, worked with other professionals and the victim and at the end know that you have put systems in place to prevent this person being abused in the future."

Nancy's story: a case study

Having not seen her son Clive in 15 years, Nancy was delighted when he returned back into her life. However Clive's return proved to have a more alternative motive than simply wanting to see Nancy, who was becoming weaker and frailer in her old age.

Suffering from mild dementia, Clive wanted his mother to change her will in favour of him. He even wrote a new will for her to sign and employed new solicitors to manage it.

Nancy, 88, from Chiswick, was widowed 20 years ago following the death of her husband Albert. She receives a number of services from Hounslow Council's Community Services department which helps her to live independently at home.

It was thanks to a routine visit from a social worker that Nancy felt able to express her concerns over her son's visits.

Abu Kamara, one of Hounslow's Safeguarding Adults Co-ordinators, reveals, "Relatives actually believe that putting pressure on ageing relatives to give up their money is acceptable. This man was prepared to march his own mother to a solicitor and force her to change a document that outlined her own personal intentions following death. Does that sound right to you? It is not, and where we find examples of this abuse, we will stop it."

He explains that this is actually a type of abuse - called financial abuse - and it's common.

In Nancy's case by revealing her concerns to the social worker who reported it to the Safeguarding Adults Team ,they were able to put a stop to this abuse before it went any further. Nancy had a psychiatric check, which revealed she did not have capacity to make decisions of this magnitude therefore any attempt to change her will would have been void".

Sadly Clive was no longer interested in his mother anymore.

*Names and some details have been changed to protect the identity of the victim.