Safeguarding Children e-Academy manager Abby Dacres explains, "Through our work with the children's workforce, it has become clear that there are many similarities in training requirements for adult social care teams. There are a number of key areas in which all people working with vulnerable adults require specialist training by law, and we are now able to offer a suite of sector-relevant courses designed to meet occupational competencies in both health and social care."

New courses on offer cover Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act, which protects people who are unable to make some decisions for themselves, tissue viability, social-care law, dignity in care, and dementia awareness.

Abby Dacres says, "People working with vulnerable adults often need to have an awareness of issues relating to children in the family they are dealing with - and it is important to remember that vulnerable children can often become vulnerable adults. It's all about creating a safe environment through good practice and at the same time, being fully aware of the signs of abuse and having the confidence to know what to do in response to particular concerns."

Access to the courses is available to adult-services teams at the Safeguarding Children e-Academy's 61-strong national network of predominantly local authority-run Safeguarding Children Boards.

They have also been opened up to other local authorities across the country - most having a clearly defined remit to deliver effective adult social-care training - along with NHS Primary Care Trusts and all organisations and individuals who come into contact with adults. Special deals are available for early adopters.