Mandatory reports in Social Services – an analysis and comparison of reports of mistreatments in Swedish social care.

Mandatory reports of mistreatment according to the Social Services Act has been in use in eldercare since 1999. Since 2011, all areas of social services are subject to mandatory reporting of mistreatments.

The intentions with the act are to protect the most vulnerable service users, enable staff to report without risk for reprisals and increase quality by learning from mistakes.The aim of the project is to map out and analyse reports of mistreatment in all areas of social services during 2019; what is reported and how does the reporting procedure correspond with the legislation?

The same legislation applies to all different agencies within social services. Since 2013, the Health and Social Care Inspectorate monitors serious mistreatments.

The registration of serious mistreatments is preceded by mandatory reporting which has not yet been investigated within social services, except for a few studies concerning eldercare.The project has two parts.

In the first part a large database will be set up where all reports from all areas of social services in all 49 municipalities in Region Västra Götaland will be coded. Focus is on what is reported, by whom and the measures taken. How does the reporting procedure differ between the social service agencies?

Are there any patterns, and in relation to what?

In part two, a qualitative analysis of how seriousness is judged in a representative sample of investigations will be performed.

The analysis will focus on what is regarded as serious, and if there are any differences in these judgements across the various areas.

Questions of how the intentions of the legislation are fulfilled, and how the legislation is interpreted in social services will be addressed.

The result of the study can inform Social Service agencies of the reporting procedures and facilitate their learning from each other. The creation of a database will enable follow up studies.