Annual Report
April 2014 - March 2015
Supplementary Information
- Single Agency Contributions
www.wakefield.gov.uk
1
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Information for Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust (MYHT) consistently seeks to meet its
statutory responsibilities to safeguard children and young people in line with Section
11 of the Children Act 2004. Safeguarding is inherent to all services delivered by the
Trust and the work of the safeguarding team supports frontline practitioners in the
delivery of those services.
Safeguarding Children Training
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust demonstrates a continued commitment to
the delivery of safeguarding training which is considered mandatory for all staff. The
level of training practitioners are required to attend is defined by their professional
role and is in line with the Intercollegiate Document, Safeguarding Children: roles
and responsibilities for health care staff revised March 2014. This empowers frontline
practitioners to be confident and competent in managing safeguarding concerns.
Numbers of staff trained and details of the training delivered within MYHT are
outlined in the table below
1
Training
Safeguarding
children Level 2
Classroom session
Target Group
Annual
target
(%)
All staff
working with
adults who
may be
parents or
carers – every
3 years
85%
Safeguarding
children Level 3
training
All staff who
work
predominantly
with children
and families –
every 3 years
Integrated
Safeguarding Level
1 training
(induction,
workbook and
refresh)
All Trust staff –
every 3 years.
Safeguarding
children Level 2
e-learning option
Numbers
trained
2013/14
1090
Numbers
trained
2014/15
Compliance at
31/03/15
1207
81%
259
332
85%
284
288
89%
95%
1456
1282
100%
The Trust is fortunate to have excellent training facilities and in November 2014
welcomed colleagues both from within the Trust and from partner agencies to a
Symposium on Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation. This event was coordinated by the safeguarding children team and facilitated access to local and
national experts in this field. The event, held in the Lecture Theatre at Pinderfields
Hospital, received very positive evaluation. A further Symposium event was held in
March 2015 to promote new developments in multi-agency working in Wakefield,
specifically the ‘Signs of Safety’ programme.
Named professionals from the MYHT Safeguarding Team have been instrumental in
the development and facilitation of multi-agency training events in relation to the relaunch of the ‘Bruising, Burns and Scalds Protocol’ in Wakefield. These events,
facilitated in partnership with Police and Children’s Social Care colleagues and
delivered across the children’s workforce, have received excellent feedback.
Voice of the Child
Working Together to Safeguard Children and Young People (2015) states clearly
that for services to be effective, a child centred approach is essential and this should
be underpinned by a clear understanding of the needs and views of children.
Recommendations from a Safeguarding Peer Review conducted during 2014
identified the need for MYHT to develop a two year plan to ensure that future service
provision for children and young people reflects the Voice of the Child.
The safeguarding team have initiated a two year action plan and it is anticipated that
this will continue to develop and evolve and progressively respond to the changing
2
landscape framing the delivery of healthcare services. The Trust Safeguarding
Group provides the conduit and high level monitoring function to ensure that the
Trust Board remains focused on key issues in relation to the Voice of the Child.
It is recognised that MYHT is undergoing a process of reconfiguration and
transformation and this was reflected in the CQC Inspection Report (November
2014). Children’s Services were identified as having a strategy and vision for future
service provision and the report provides clear evidence of consultation with children
and families. Evidence to date will be used as the cornerstone underpinning ongoing
service developments for children with the ethos being, as identified in one area
inspected, ‘You Said, We Did’.
The Trust is actively engaged in supporting the utilisation of the Friends and Family
test and has an agreed plan to implement a staged approach to capturing the views
of children across all children’s services. In August 2014 the Trust participated in an
in-patient survey where the views of children in relation to the care they received
were sought. Responses were requested directly from children over the age of 7
years. Further agreement has been secured for the Picker Institute to undertake an
additional patient experience survey in relation to the Paediatric Emergency
Departments.
The Safeguarding Team is working collaboratively with key partner agencies in
relation to the development of new safeguarding initiatives from Early Help to Child
Protection and actively supporting the implementation of Wakefield’s ‘Signs of
Safety’ strategy and Kirklees Single Assessment process. Inherent to the delivery of
these initiatives is the requirement for practitioners to actively consider and respond
to the Voice of the Child.
Serious Case Reviews
In November 2014 MYHT hosted a ‘One Year On’ challenge event in relation to the
19 recommendations and 67 individual actions identified from the four serious case
reviews in Wakefield between 2012 and 2013. The Wakefield and District
Safeguarding Children Board (WDSCB) sought assurance that learning identified
from the reviews has not only been embedded into practice but is making a
difference to improving outcomes for children. This event offered an opportunity for
key frontline practitioners to showcase their service and the Trust received positive
formal feedback from Edwina Harrison, Independent Chair of the Board. The
Safeguarding Team has continued to provide an organisational steer but progress
and sustainability of individual recommendations is directly attributable to the
continued commitment of individual service leads.
One of the key initiatives identified as making a significant contribution to improving
outcomes for children has been the development of the dedicated children’s fracture
clinic. Edwina Harrison, Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Board accepted an
invitation to visit the service and the orthopaedic team hosted the visit which proved
to be very successful and provides a clear mechanism for demonstrating improved
outcomes for children.
Ongoing work in relation to recommendations from a Wakefield Learning Lessons
3
Review has focused predominantly around the revised Bruising Burns and Scalds
Protocol in Non Ambulant Babies and the delivery of training events across the
children’s workforce. The opportunity to deliver briefing events, facilitated by a multiagency team to audiences across the span of children’s services in Wakefield, has
proved widely successful and has set a precedent for the facilitation of future training
events.
Management of Safeguarding Incidents
The Safeguarding Children team receive reports of suspected safeguarding incidents
in relation to children via the DATIX reporting system, and respond to individual
reports on a case by case basis. Analysis of the information provided in the report is
returned directly to the reporter via the integrated feedback mechanism or, where
appropriate, through direct contact with the reporter.
Where practitioners have identified a safeguarding concern meeting the threshold for
statutory intervention by Children’s Social Care there is a procedural requirement to
make a written referral. The safeguarding team have developed a secure database
and log all referrals received. This provides a mechanism for quality assurance of
referrals and easy access to data for audit purposes.
MYHT, as an NHS provider, also has a responsibility to identify and report incidents
meeting the criteria for safeguarding serious incidents where there is prima facia
evidence that abuse or neglect have contributed to a permanent impairment to
health. The Safeguarding Team notified Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG) of a safeguarding serious incident in January 2015 in relation to a seven
week old baby who had sustained multiple injuries prior to admission to hospital.
Named professionals are currently conducting a formal review of the case and
learning identified will, where required, support necessary changes to practice.
Domestic Abuse
The named midwife/domestic abuse lead for pregnant women receives referrals from
the police relating to pregnant women who have been subject to domestic abuse.
Midwives within the Trust also notify the named midwife when a pregnant woman
has disclosed she is subject to domestic violence. The number of domestic abuse
referrals for pregnant women to the Safeguarding Team has once again risen and
the graph below demonstrates a year on year increase in domestic abuse referrals
for pregnant women.
4
Number of domestic abuse referrals for pregnant
women
500
390
400
313
256
300
200
100
12
33
90
100
149
138
160
0
Jan – Dec Jan – Dec Jan – Dec Jan – Dec Jan – Dec Jan – Dec Jan – Dec Jan – Jan - Dec Jan to
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011 Dec 2012 2013 Dec 2014
The MYHT community services receive referrals from the police relating to victims
where children live in the household. On receipt of these referrals the Named
Midwife/the Named Nurse for community service ensures that all practitioners who
are supporting the family are aware of the potential of violent incidents within the
home and where appropriate makes an entry on electronic records (Euroking and
SystmOne). The practitioner will then instigate a support package to the victim and
undertake a risk assessment relating to children in the home. This risk assessment
may instigate a referral to Children’s Social Care by the practitioner where the
threshold criteria are met.
The MYHT maintains active representation on Wakefield MARAC (Multi Agency Risk
Assessment Conference) for domestic abuse victims.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
In autumn 2014, to fulfil requirements from the Department of Health FGM
Prevention Programme, the Safeguarding Team began collecting mandatory
anonymised FGM data to submit to the Health and Social Care Information Centre
(HSCIC) on a monthly basis. This practice continues but, with effect from April
2015, the dataset is now enhanced and contains more detailed information regarding
FGM victims who have been identified during the delivery of healthcare by MYHT.
To date twenty one victims have been identified (seventeen adults and four children).
The Safeguarding Team has developed a comprehensive FGM Policy to inform
frontline clinical practice across the organisation; the policy addresses both
safeguarding and clinical care issues relating to FGM.
The policy is currently
progressing through the final stages of formal ratification. In the interim, the
Safeguarding Team have provided practical advice and support to clinical staff
regarding the appropriate management of FGM cases based upon current national
DH and NHS multi-agency guidance. Furthermore, this guidance and information,
with particular regard to risk assessment, mandatory reporting and recording, has
been shared with staff via the Trust Safeguarding website, All User Bulletin, Patient
Safety Bulletin, Safeguarding Newsletter and Safeguarding Children Champion’s
Group.
5
Safeguarding Supervision
Current Trust policy requires that safeguarding supervision is accessed every three
months by all staff working with children and families (MYHT Supervision Policy
2015). The Safeguarding Team successfully commissioned the delivery of a
bespoke package of training to an additional 10 practitioners in June 2014 to prepare
them to deliver supervision using the NSPCC safeguarding supervision model. A
further three half day study sessions were delivered in July 2014 by Named Nurses,
Safeguarding Children to the existing cohort of supervisors to enhance and refresh
their skills. These sessions were well received and have evolved into an ongoing
programme of supervisor forums which are co-ordinated on a quarterly basis.
Policy compliance is regularly reported to the Trust Safeguarding Group however the
responsibility for monitoring lies with the Integrated Care Division. There have been
some reported dips in compliance which were compounded by reporting anomalies
which have subsequently been resolved and current compliance stands at 94%.
6
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
NHS England Yorkshire & the Humber
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
The overall responsibilities of NHS England in relation to safeguarding
NHS England was established on 1 April 2013 and has an assurance role for local health
systems and directly commissions some services. NHS England has worked with Clinical
Commissioning Groups to ensure their commissioned providers take all reasonable steps to
reduce serious incidents. NHS England provides assurance that the local health system,
including Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and designated professionals, are working
effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults at risk (Safeguarding
Vulnerable People Accountability and Assurance Framework, NHS England 2015). This role
includes ensuring that CCGs are working with their directly commissioned providers to
improve services as a result of learning from safeguarding incidents. These services include
acute, community, mental health and ambulance care.
NHS England responsibilities in relation to direct commissioned services
NHS England is responsible for driving up the quality of safeguarding in its directly
commissioned services and for holding these providers to account for their responses to
serious safeguarding incidents, ensuring that safeguarding practice and processes are
optimal within these services. In Yorkshire and Humber, this includes all GP practices, dental
practices, pharmacies, optometrists, health and justice services and the following public
health services: National immunisation programmes
 National screening programmes
 Public health services for offenders in custody
 Sexual assault referral centres
 Public health services for children aged 0-5 years (including health visiting,
family nurse partnerships and much of the healthy child programme)
 Child health information systems
7
From April 2015 onwards, NHS England will commence a programme of transferring
responsibility for GP practices (and eventually all other primary care providers) to
CCG’s with delegated powers of co-commissioning.
NHS England has worked in partnership with local Safeguarding Boards to ensure that the
NHS contribution is fit for purpose and that there is no un-necessary duplication of requests
for safeguarding reviews to be undertaken. NHS England also has its own assurance
processes in place concerning NHS safeguarding reviews, learning and improvements.
Sharing learning from safeguarding reports
In order to continuously improve local health services, NHS England has responsibility for
sharing learning from safeguarding serious incidents across Yorkshire and the Humber and
more widely, making sure that improvements are made across the local NHS, not just within
the services where the incident occurred. The NHS England West Yorkshire Safeguarding
Forum has met on a quarterly basis throughout 2014-15 to facilitate this. Learning has also
been shared across GP practices via quarterly Safeguarding Newsletters.
Training programme for general practice
Designated safeguarding professionals are jointly accountable to Clinical Commissioning
Groups and NHS England. They have overseen the provision of level 3 training for primary
care medical services. Training sessions have been provided on a locality basis rather than
to individual practices. The main source of training for other primary care independent
contractors has been via e-learning training packages.
Assurance of safeguarding practice
NHS England Yorkshire and the Humber have provided assurance templates for CCGs to
feedback on the assurance of safeguarding practice from providers the CCGs commission
e.g. acute trusts, community and mental health trusts and also assurance from CCGs
themselves. NHS England Yorkshire and the Humber have developed safeguarding
standards and aspirations for GP practices to benchmark themselves against. These
standards will be reviewed and updated annually and incorporate learning from recent
serious case reviews within Yorkshire and the Humber.
Standard Operating Procedure: Safeguarding Incidents
In order to establish a strong governance framework surrounding safeguarding incidents
NHS England Yorkshire and the Humber have developed a Standard Operating Procedure:
Safeguarding Incidents. This describes communication processes regarding these incidents
and sets out NHS England’s role and responsibilities in quality assuring review reports,
signing off reports and ensuring improvement actions are implemented. It clarifies the
interface between NHS England Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Yorkshire
designated safeguarding professionals who are hosted by CCGs yet have a dotted line of
accountability to us and work closely with us to enable us to deliver our statutory duties in
relation to safeguarding incidents.
8
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Governance
NHS Wakefield CCG has continued with its strong commitment to the safeguarding agenda
with an Executive lead on the CCG governing body and the Head of safeguarding, both of
whom attend the WDSCB. In addition the CCG representative acts as Deputy Chair to the
WDSCB.
The CCG Governing Body received the CCG Safeguarding Children Annual Report and the
annual report into the Health of Looked after Children in September 2014. The Chair of
WDSCB also attended to Governing body to present the WDSCB annual report. Following
this, NHS Wakefield CCG agreed an increase in the financial contribution to WDSCB to
ensure the work of the Board can be achieved; this will come into effect during 2015-2016.
The CCG also receives regular safeguarding children reports through its governance
processes.
NHS Wakefield CCG has continued with its support to the WDSCB strategic and operational
functions by attending, and chairing board activities such as the Audit sub-committee, the
Multi-Agency Case File Audits (MACFA) and on going Serious Case Review Challenge
sessions.
Communication
The CCG intranet - Skyline, introduced in 2014, which is available to CCG staff and GP
practices, has a safeguarding page with access to information, Safeguarding Policies and
Procedures and useful links. This will continue to be developed in 2015-2016.
The CCG has continued through the year to provide information to Primary Care through
9
newsletters and briefings on topics including Private Fostering, Good Communication and
Child Sexual Exploitation.
Training and education
The CCG provides bespoke training to General Practice at Locality Target sessions. This
year approximately 300 GPs and Nurse Practitioners have received training on a range of
topics including Child Sexual Exploitation, Domestic Abuse and its Impact on Children, and
Learning from Serious Case Reviews. The CCG also ensures that GPs in training receive
appropriate training at levels 2 and 3 during their training.
Multi-Agency Working
The CCG has continued to support the work of the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
through the year, and has plans to ensure that this commitment will continue in 2015/16.
10
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
Public Health
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Anna Middlemiss, Consultant in Public Health, Strategy and Specialist Support Team
I am the Chair of the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) and a member of the Local
Safeguarding Children Board.
Analysis of data that we have access to on the health of children in the District helps us to
know how we may improve health and prevent deaths. This year we designed a survey to
conduct in schools which covers issues such as mental wellbeing, bullying and problem
solving. This approach combined with routinely available data allows us to better understand
the safeguarding needs of local children.
Smoking is one of the biggest issues in Wakefield District and contributes to poor outcomes
both for children who smoke and for babies who are born to smokers. Two thirds of smokers
start before the age of 18 and therefore public health in Wakefield commissions a full NHS
stop smoking service and implements interventions such as smoke- free play parks. This
year the public health team has prioritised reducing maternal smoking which has resulted in
a reduction in maternal smoking rates for the first time in many years.
This year we have also recommissioned sexual health services across the District. This has
provided us with an integrated sexual health service with an emphasis on sex and
relationships education. We have also prioritised identifying and preventing child sexual
exploitation within this service.
Obesity has negative outcomes for children both physically and mentally. It also increases
the risk of still birth and infant mortality. This year the public health team have piloted a
number of approaches to family based healthy weight programmes including on-line support
and approaches aimed at emotional eating.
11
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
Local Medical Council Representative
Dr Paul Glover
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Local Medical Council Representative DR Paul Glover
Dr Paul Glover is the Named GP for Safeguarding Children, Wakefield Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG). He is a part time General Practitioner (GP) and also a
member of the Local Medical Committee.
In addition he is recently taken over the post of Named GP Safeguarding Children for
Calderdale CCG, and is a GP Appraiser.
This year work has continued on maintaining the improved communications between GP’s
and their attached Health Visitor Teams. The recent switch of responsibility for the
commissioning of the Health Visitor and School Nurse services means that this is an area
that will need to be reviewed in the next financial year. As reported last year, whilst things
are considerably better, a minority of Practices still need some help in ensuring this
arrangement is working effectively.
Recently the Health Visitor and School Nurse Services have been provided with an
emergency telephone number should they require to speak to a GP urgently. Anecdotal
reports from both sides indicate that arrangements remain better than they were 3 years
ago.
The Multi-Agency Service Hub (MASH), which was described in detail in last year’s Annual
Report, continues to work well, with all sides having the confidence to share important
Safeguarding information. Again this is a significant improvement on 3 years ago.
Dr Glover has continued to maintain regular communications with GP Safeguarding Leads in
all Wakefield Practices which includes sending a regular newsletter/update on topical issues.
Dr Glover’s link with Calderdale means that issues and ideas for good practice are now
12
shared across a much larger geographical area.
This year has seen the inauguration of Early Intervention Hubs and Practices in all 7 GP
Networks have been active in this process, which should go further in improving
communications between all those involved in the care of children and their families.
Towards the end of this year work started on ensuring that all children moving into the area
are notified to the appropriate Health Visitor or School Nurse team, as this has previously
been less than 100%, and Dr Glover is also working to try and increase the identification and
reporting of Private Fostering arrangements, which is are area currently being looked at by
the Local Authority. This work will continue into the next year.
13
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
West Yorkshire Police - Supt Karen Gayles
The past 12 months has been extremely positive in regards to developments in the safeguarding
department. The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) has now been live for over 12 months and
it continues to provide a true partnership approach to share information relating to child
safeguarding concerns. It has been visited by both the HMIC and the College of Policing who are
extremely impressed with the team, the success it has achieved and the dedication of the staff
concerned. Likewise the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the out of hours Emergency Duty Team
(EDT) being located at Havertop lane Police station continue to strengthen the working relationship
with the Police and Local authority.
Moving forward we continue to see significant demand placed upon the safeguarding teams
regarding emerging issues such as honour based violence, female genital mutilation and forced
marriage. These are now part of the West Yorkshire Police priorities moving forward. The
Community Safety Partnership has commissioned a partnership group to ensure that we focus on
understanding and dealing with these complex issues. There has been extensive training regarding
this for police and partners.
With the significant concerns regarding child sexual exploitation, West Yorkshire police has
increased the number of investigators including 2 police staff investigators funded by the Police and
Crime Commissioner who are working with the partnership reviewing legacy cases. Over the past 12
months there has been extensive CSE training to Wakefield District High schools and Junior schools
for teachers and education professionals to be able to recognise the potential signs of CSE. Children
within the District continue to be involved in regular inputs by Police, Barnados and other other
partners to make them aware of healthy relationships and concerns regarding internet relating
potential perpetrators. Working with the licensing department, local taxis, hotels and other
businesses to make them aware of the risks of CSE.
14
Overall a very productive 12 months whereby the West Yorkshire Police and partners continue to
work exceptionally hard and are committed to safeguarding the children in our District.
15
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
National Probation Service
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Probation
The National Probation Service came into existence in June 2014 as a result of the dissolution of the
35 Probation Trusts nationally, and the creation of a national public sector organisation for Probation
focussing on Courts and offenders who pose a risk of harm to the public, alongside a number of
Community Rehabilitation Companies across the country. These non public sector agencies provide a
range of interventions for offenders subject to statutory supervision and supervise low and medium
risk
offenders.
The National Probation Service undertakes assessments of risk in respect of offenders appearing
before the courts and when discretionary release from prison on Parole Licence is being considered.
Some of these offenders have been convicted of sexual offences against children and are offenders
who may pose a risk to other children in the future. Our role is to assess and manage that risk with
multi agency partners. In addition, our contact with all offenders under our supervision requires us to
be mindful of the impact of the offending behaviour on children. This includes being alert to risks that
may exist and sharing information with relevant agencies and contributing to their assessment and
any necessary intervention. It also requires us to be aware of the impact on children of having a
parent who offends - especially when this results in a custodial sentence. Research indicates that this
experience can significantly impair the future wellbeing of these children. The other core area of
involvement for the National Probation Service in respect of Safeguarding Children is our direct
involvement, through the secondment of probation practitioners, with the local Youth Offending Team.
The work of the National Probation Service is not new - having previously been undertaken by
Probation Trusts. The creation of a national organisation, however, is still very new. The primary focus
for the past 12 months has been on the organisational changes that have taken place, and the
development of new processes in order to interface with the local Community Rehabilitation
Company. The initial phase of separation into the new organisations has been effected, and now we
are working to build a National Probation Service that is fit for purpose into the future. Despite these
challenges, we have been able to further extend our oversight of convicted sex offenders in the
community by collaborating with the Police and Circles of Support Yorkshire and Humberside to
introduce this service into the local area. The National Probation Service locally has provided a
qualified practitioner to recruit and train local volunteers, who form a 'circle' of support around a
16
convicted offender to minimise the risk of re-offending. as well as to provide a means of greater
oversight that allows signs of any increase in risk to be picked up and addressed.
The demands of organisational change have required us to prioritise our input. In respect of the Board
our main focus has been responding to the greater awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation, and the
current potential risks to young people of radicalisation into extremism. We have been working with
national colleagues to anticipate what the increasing knowledge of the profile of CSE perpetrators
tells us about the most effective means to supervise those convicted of such offences. In addition we
have been reviewing the information our front line staff need to remain alert to young people
vulnerable to radicalisation, as well as in the supervision of those convicted under counter terrorist
legislation, to incorporate an awareness of any potential impact on their wider family and children.
17
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
Community Rehabilitation Company
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Community Rehabilitation Company
West Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company is a relatively new organisation being
established in June 2014. In essence it is part of what had been previously WY Probation Trust and
the contract to run the organisation was awarded to Purple Futures early in 2015, Purple Futures
being and Interserve Led company. The main focus for WYCRC is the management of individuals who
have offended and have either been given a community disposal or a custodial sentence. The
significant difference is the WYCRC will concentrate particularly on offenders assessed as Low and
Medium risk of committing acts of serious harm. However, this does include many individuals who
lead extremely chaotic lifestyles and who frequently offend. The role of WYCRC in terms of
safeguarding has not altered from that of the WV Probation Trust. Many of the individuals under our
supervision have children or reside with children and as such part of our assessment requires a focus
on their safety. Our staff undertake necessary training and there are clear processes in place to
share information with the sole aim of preventing harm to children
Having only been in post since April 2015 my personal contributions have thus far been limited.
However, I have previously been a member of the board whilst undertaking a different role within
WY Probation Trust. My main role will be two fold. One will be to provide information to the board
and assurances as to the role WYCRC will take. Secondly to provide information to operational staff
within my organisation to better equips them in safeguarding. Finally, I will undertake to challenge
the board so as to remain focused that all the activities they undertake have the sole purpose of
enhancing the safety of children within the area.
All assessments made on individuals the WYCRC come into contact with have a distinct element
referring to children. This is a mandatory piece of work and is undertaken without exception. This in
itself often leads to referrals for further information and hence enables inter agency information
sharing which is clearly crucial in protecting children. In addition, there are examples where
information has been gathered in alternative settings for instance a community payback work site
18
which has lead to referrals to children and young people’s services. Although action is not always
required this does indicate a resilience on the part of all staff within the WYCRC to have children
safety at the centre of the work.
Clearly a splitting of one organisation into two has impacts on operations. Notwithstanding in terms
of safeguarding the processes for all staff have fundamentally remained un altered. Furthermore
there is now a requirement for my organisation to work with all prisoners serving twelve months or
less. This is a new requirement of the Offender Rehabilitation Act which came into force in early
2015. This could be viewed as a significant positive step for the safeguarding of children as a greater
number of individuals will now be subject to statutory supervision which had previously not been
the case.
19
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
Spectrum
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Spectrum.
Spectrum is a community enterprise that works to provide specialist support across a range
of services. It provides a range of nursing , GP and pharmacy input across 13 prisons;
substance misuse services across Wakefield and North Yorkshire and arrange of Integrated
Sexual Health Services in Wakefield and Barnsley
We support families in complex and vulnerable situations working predominantly with the
adult our service offer is to the children and we commit to their wellbeing and safeguarding in
conjunction with other professionals
However our work in sexual health services includes a more targeted offer to children and
young people .Our offer to young people and adults in sexual health services is to provide a
wide range of treatment and diagnostics but to treat as a whole and to ensure they are
safeguarded as adults , children or young people in transition. We are trained in and have
processes for Child Sexual Exploitation, Female Genital Mutilation, human trafficking ,
sexual co-coercion and we provide a unique training programme to school with regards
relationship and sexual education. This recently won a sexual health award when modified
for use in prison
We provide and access a range of training for all services and are committed to the work of
the safeguarding board and the opportunities’ it presents. As a small company we still
undertake the Section 11 audit to assure the safeguarding board and Spectrum Board that
we are have the right policies , process and monitoring in place to provide a high standard of
safeguarding to those who use our services.
20
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Response in relation to information required for the LSCB Annual report:
As per the requirement for all agencies to ensure that we meet or obligatory duties set out in
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015, and demonstrate that as an organisation we
have met our duties under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004, South West Yorkshire
Partnership Foundation Trust would like to submit the following responses to the questions
posed:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
As a statutory organisation, the role of SWYPFT under section 11 of the Children Act 1989
and Children Act 2004 is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This includes
protecting children and young people from abuse and neglect through early identification
and intervention.
The organisation provides mental health services to children and young people in Wakefield
through its CAMHS provision, tier 1 to 3. The early Intervention in Psychosis Service also
provides interventions to children from the age of 14 years with suspected first episode
psychosis. This client group are particularly vulnerable due to the nature of the presenting
difficulty. Although SWYPFT is primarily an adult focussed organisation, consideration of the
21
welfare and safety of children is paramount to the services we provide.
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
The safeguarding children training (level 1, 2 and 3) have been updated to capture the
changes within Wakefield Local Authority and National directives.
PREVENT and CSE training has been a priority within CAMHS and Early Intervention in
Psychosis teams. Specific training days have been delivered in March, May and June 2015.
All communications from the Board have disseminated at appropriate meetings within the
organisation. All information relevant for the workforce has been communicated through the
Trust Communication team, the link professional forums, safeguarding children intranet
pages and within service team meetings.
All actions from the Board, including Serious Case Review action plans have been assigned
and completed within the set timeframe.
A review has taken place of the safeguarding children board sub-groups to ensure that there
is appropriate representation, which can be challenged and offer challenge from the
organisation. A performance data set has been identified through liaison with Assistant
Director of Nursing, Safeguarding Children Named Nurse, CAMHS and the performance
management team.
The safeguarding children team have assisted with a multi-agency audit for Wakefield
Safeguarding Children Board and organised a future event for October 2015, which will be
facilitated by the organisation.
The Named Nurse has worked closely with the Designated Nurse for Safeguarding children
and other health agencies to ensure the workforce is prepared for Ofsted and CQC. Cases
have been identified, evidence has been gathered and evidence base practice literature has
been disseminated.
The safeguarding children team supported the CSE National Awareness day in March 2015
and the National Nurses day in May 2015.
The safeguarding children team also introduced a ‘duty’ system in March 2015 to ensure that
the workforce receive a timely and consistent response for safeguarding children advice.
22
Safeguarding children supervision is being delivered by the safeguarding children team
within CAMHS and Early intervention in Psychosis.
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
The training, supervision and advice provided by the safeguarding children team has
ensured that the organisation has a skilled workforce to consider the welfare of children and
young people and respond appropriately in a timely manner.
As an organisation capturing the voice of the child and young person is a priority, this is
captured through ‘friends and family’ questionnaires and within Wakefield CAMHS the voice
of the child is captured through a ‘Young People’s Participation Group’. The voice of the
child influences service delivery.
The safeguarding children team have two ‘Signs of Safety’ champions to cascade the model
through the workforce and to support staff involved in the process to ensure the best
outcomes for children and their family. This has also been supported by Mark Stonell who
has delivered a presentation to the safeguarding children link professionals’ forum.
Awareness of the model has also been communicated through the Trust Intranet.
The organisation has a robust recruitment and selection process which is values based and
includes the recruitment of volunteers. The safeguarding team meet quarterly with HR to
review and discuss any staffing concerns/ investigations and allegations to ensure that the
welfare of children and young people are considered.
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have impacted on
your ability to safeguard children?
Strategic leadership responsibility is provided by two Assistant Directors of Nursing, Clinical
Governance and Safety who hold child or adult safeguarding within their respective portfolio.
The Executive Director for Nursing, Clinical governance and safety is the overall
safeguarding lead, supported by the Deputy Director for Nursing.
SWYPFT have increased its capacity within the Safeguarding Team to meet local demands
and improve our ability to safeguard children. There are now 2 Named Nurses with
responsibility to Safeguard Children who are supported by 4 Specialist Advisors. Within
23
Adult Safeguarding SWYPFT have increase capacity by recruiting a Specialist Advisor to
support the lead for Adult Safeguarding.
24
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
Voluntary and Community Sector
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Voluntary and Community Sector
Voluntary and community sector organisations across the District continue to deliver a range
of services to children, young people, families and communities, operating at all levels of the
continuum of need. Wakefield Young Lives network ensures all agencies affiliated to the
network are made aware of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children and are
kept up to date with policy and service developments.
In January 2015 the VCS Safeguarding Reference Group was re-launched to strengthen
communication between the Board and the wider sector and to further develop VCS
representation on the various subcommittees and working groups of the Board.
The sector has also keen to play its part in assuring itself and the Board that organisations
are equipped to respond to appropriately to the issue of child sexual exploitation. Plans are
in place to deliver a workshop in the autumn of 2015, focusing on child sexual exploitation
and in particular to raise awareness of and increase confidence in using the CSE risk
assessment tool, the appropriate referral pathways including MAACSE and are able to
participate in the audit and review of historic cases. The Reference Group will also support
Wakefield Young Lives in the development of an audit tool linked to the Section 11 process,
but designed to be useable and applicable to smaller voluntary and community sector
organisations.
In addition to direct service delivery, VCS organisations contribute to the work of the Board,
either in relation to their individual specialist expertise or as representatives of the wider
voluntary sector on behalf of the Young Lives Network. This includes representation at
Board level and the Learning and Development, Audit, and Performance Subcommittees.
Barnardo’s staff are also involved in the work of the CSE, Missing and Trafficking strategy
25
and the Signs of Safety Steering Group. Barnardo’s Assistant Director Janice Hawkes, the
VCS representative on the Board, chairs the Learning and Development Subcommittee.
Wakefield Young Lives continues to deliver safeguarding awareness training to voluntary
and community sector groups.
Young Lives Safeguarding Trainers forum continues to support the VCS sector with basic
Safeguarding Training, working collaboratively with Jane McGill to ensure that the training is
relevant and up to date. Currently all trainers are receiving briefings and training linked to
Sings of Safety. Further training and events are planned for the sector around the issue of
CSE, adolescent to parents violence and signs of safety.
Examples of individual VCS organisations’ contributions to the work of the WDSCB include:
St George’s
St George’s Community Centre continues to work in a preventative way to support
vulnerable children. In the last year our four nurseries have provided interventions to
support a range of families subject to CP, CAF, several staff have received training to lead
on the caf. The Youth Café operates twice per week and supports many young children,
due to the strong working relationship between our Youth team and partners we have been
successful especially with interventions regarding CSE.
CRI
CRI in partnership with Spectrum delivered the Impact of Substance Misuse on Children for
the Safeguarding Board. We also provide monthly safeguarding briefings to Pinderfields
Hospital staff.
CRI works in a preventative way to support vulnerable children through the procedures and
policies of Wakefield Safeguarding Children’s Board and through our internal safeguarding
systems. The manager of CRI is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and has responsibility
to ensure that cases on CRI Safeguarding Register are reviewed weekly. We are
represented on the CSE and Missing work stream and attend the CSE operational group.
We have supported young people and families subject to CP, CAF and all staff have
received training on using the CAF. The CRI workers seconded into the YOT operate under
the safeguarding policies and deliver substance misuse interventions in the line with
safeguarding policy to young people subject to voluntary and statutory orders. We have
identified a CSE Champion within the service who will complete the CEOP Ambassador
training is responsible for updating the team with developments in practice and policy.
Barnardo’s Turnaround
Barnardo’s work with partner agencies to develop and deliver a robust response to child
sexual exploitation has continued throughout 2014/15. Since February 2012 Barnardo’s
Turnaround service has been working in Wakefield to offer a specialist service to the district
around Child Sexual Exploitation. The first progressive step was working with West
Yorkshire Police to develop a localised operational response which culminated in the
initiation of a dedicated CSE Team. Working as co-located partners since June 2012
Barnardo’s and West Yorkshire Police have been able to offer a wide range of input to the
district.
For Barnardo’s this has included (and is not exhaustive):

Awareness raising assemblies to thousands of children across the High Schools /
26







Academies
Direct work and intervention with those young people identified at risk of CSE
Advice / given to the ‘management’ of young people involved in investigation
Awareness raising sessions across the professional community
Targeted information sessions for parents
Training inputs for the Local Authority and West Yorkshire Police amongst others,
Support and development of partner agencies’ work in supporting young people at
risk of CSE
Advice giving / consultation and ‘up-skilling’ of partner-agency colleagues
On March 18th 2015 Barnardo’s was proud to link in with the work of the Safeguarding
Children’s Board to promote National CSE Awareness Day and interfaced with the public to
give insight into this abhorrent crime. On that day at the National Working Group
Conference, Kevin Robinson of Barnardo’s Turnaround was presented with an ‘Unsung
Hero’ award which underlines the hard work and dedication given to supporting young
people, and developing people’s understanding of child sexual exploitation.
Barnardo’s work is continuing and much of the above will go on into 2015. Planned
developments for 2015/16 will include work to raise awareness of CSE within the ‘NightTime Economy’, the provision of therapeutic support based around creative arts to young
victims of CSE and provision of specialist support and expertise for young people involved in
giving evidence in CSE related prosecutions.
Barnardo’s CAPS
Barnardo’s Children’s Advocacy and Participation Service has trained and supported young
people to participate in the Board’s Section 11 interview panel and has supported a wider
young people’s consultation event on how young people wish to be involved in the work of
the Safeguarding Board. Young people have also been trained and supported to co-deliver
multi-agency core group training and to raise awareness of the profile of the voice of the
child in the process.
Impact of organisational /financial changes
As providers of commissioned services, VCS organisations within the District have been
impacted by statutory partners’ need to make financial savings and by the reduction in
opportunities to access external funding opportunities. This, alongside changes to the way
the District delivers its early help offer has resulted in the loss of several services that have
been delivered in Wakefield for many years (including: Barnardo’s Young Families Family
Support Service, the Barnardo’s Get Started Service, Barnardo’s Wakefield Young Carers
Service, Homestart and the Star Bereavement Service) leading to concerns across the
sector regarding the diminishing of capacity to respond to families at an early stage in order
to safeguard children.
27
Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Single Agency Contribution
Youth Offending Team (YOT) and LSCB
Edwina Harrison (Independent Chair) asked each agency to consider the following
four questions when reviewing single agency safeguarding practice during 20142015:
1. Please outline the role of your agency in safeguarding children
2. What have you done as a result of being part of the LSCB in respect of
safeguarding children?
3. What difference has it made to the lives of children and young people?
4. Have there been any organisational/financial changes which have
impacted on your ability to safeguard children?
Stephen Crofts, Service Manager, Wakefield Youth Offending Team and LSCB
member
The Youth Offending Team (YOT) has continued to develop its staff and systems in order to
improve our ability to safeguard and promote positive outcomes for children, young people
and their families, in line with our core values. A summary of the key developments and
continuation of effective practice is detailed below:
Learning and improvement:
-
In June 2014 the YOT was subjected to a full joint inspection led by HM Inspectorate
of Prisons (HMIP). The repot of the inspectorate was really positive and found that
‘work relating to safeguarding was good, with strong links with Children’s Services’,
and that young people in the community and in custody ‘were well served by the
YOT’. The YOT is now working towards in action plan in order to learn from the
findings and continue its improvement in practice.
-
During 2014/2015, the YOT has received further recognition from the LSCB that the
implementation of its actions, in relation to learning from Serious Case Reviews, has
continued to improve practice in safeguarding young people and families.
-
Multi-agency safeguarding and risk management panels have continued to support
practitioners who manage the young people who are most at risk of being harmed or
causing serious harm to others. Panels are held monthly and supported by
colleagues from social care, police, health, victim support and probation.
28
-
Staff and volunteers are required to undertake safeguarding training every three
years, and the required level of safeguarding training is now detailed on all job
specifications. All practitioners at the YOT completed comprehensive safeguarding
assessment and planning training in 2014 which, as the HMIP inspection found, has
made a positive impact on the quality of assessments and plans.
-
Youth Support Services’ Stakeholder Events continue to run four times per year and
a number of workshops have been delivered to staff and volunteers from across the
service that focus on ‘themed’ aspects of safeguarding including preventing CSE,
supporting young people with speech language and communication issues, working
with young people who display Harmful Sexual Behaviours and e-Safety. In February
2015, the YOT delivered a presentation to staff on how services in Wakefield have
developed as a result of learning from local and national Serious Case Reviews. This
was delivered in response to findings of the HMIP inspection in 2014 who found that
‘case managers were not able to identify the key lessons for the YOT from recent
Serious Case Reviews’.
-
The service takes a proactive approach to reducing the risk of Child Sexual
Exploitation both within its service and in partnership with the district. In March 2015
we contributed to the LSCBs response to National CSE Awareness day, and
continue to be a key stakeholder in the MAACSE panel. The YOT chairs the Youth
Support Services Child Sexual Exploitation Forum which enables practitioners to
share best practice, resources, training and guidance around addressing risky
behaviours and preventing CSE. The forum has core membership from partner
agencies including the police, health, social care, education and the voluntary sector.
Each meeting has a themed discussion on specific aspects of learning such as
working with boys, supporting families and internet safety.
-
The Youth Support Services’ Safeguarding Young People forum consists of
colleagues from partner agencies including Youth Work Team, Early Help Hubs,
health and voluntary sector. The forum meets bi-monthly to discuss policy, practice,
guidance and training needs as well as providing a mechanism for conducting
thematic audit activity. Learning from the forum is disseminated by representatives to
their individual teams.
-
The YOT is a member of South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Consortium which
is working to improve outcomes for young people in the secure estate, who are some
of the most vulnerable young people in the district. The Consortium ensures that
YOTs develop and share good practice across the 7 pathways of resettlement and
track the cohort of young people who are in custody with strengthened oversight on
how their vulnerabilities are managed.
Delivering tailored interventions:
-
Practitioner forums are held every six weeks; the purpose of each forum is to enable
discussions around practice issues, identify emerging themes/patterns and the
29
development of resources to safeguard young people and families across the district.
-
We are working in partnership with West Yorkshire Police to deliver the Prevent
Agenda, specifically the Channel ‘Bronze’ and ‘Silver’ groups designed to provide
early identification of young people who are at risk of involvement in radicalisation.
Interventions are then delivered to build resilience in vulnerable young people and
reduce the risk of further involvement in extremism.
-
Continuation of the multi-agency ‘Do it Different’ (DiD) group, currently held three
times per year, to address teen to parent violence; this involves running a 12 week
programme of work to parents and young people. Future delivery of DiD programmes
will be managed by the Early Help Hubs allowing the programme available to more
people locally.
-
Practitioners continue to develop gender specific interventions that address the
varying complexities that accompany both boys and girls in the criminal justice
system. Programmes are built on evidence based interventions such as ‘Escape the
Trap ‘and seek to reduce risk and build longer term resilience in young people by
enabling them to make positive, informed choices.
-
Family Support is now available in the courts; this is delivered by the YOT Supporting
Families practitioners and aims to provide advice and guidance to parents and carers
of young people who present to the courts. The service has been well received by
the Magistrates and HMIP inspectorate found it was a valuable resource for families.
-
All victims of crime are offered an intervention through the YOT Victim Liaison
Officers. This can include an offer of a restorative intervention, plus referral to
services for additional support where required.
Developing partnerships:
-
We were pleased to see that HMIP inspection (October 2014)found that the YOT had
‘good structural links with key partners’ and are ‘well regarded by their partners and
seen as proactive, innovative and productive’. The YOT continues to build effective
partnerships with its colleagues from a range of agencies in order to safeguard young
people.
-
In addition to its statutory contributors, the YOT have seconded staff from the Think
Family Team who, in partnership with colleagues from YOT, has delivered a number
of positive outcomes for families where young people are involved in the criminal
justice system. We also have a Speech and Language Therapist supporting young
people with communication needs, and a Remand Social Worker whose role involves
linking to the Looked After Children’s Team where young people are at risk of
entering custody.
-
The YOT has acquired a remand foster placement where young people at risk of
custody can be placed in supportive accommodation as an alternative to being held
30
in custody.
-
Our Restorative Justice team have supported the council Looked After Children’s
homes and Private Care Providers by delivering bespoke RJ training with the staff,
enabling the facilitation of restorative interventions in the home. So far, 112 staff have
been trained in the use of RJ, and 12 volunteers recruited to undertake direct work in
the homes. The RJ team have worked with staff in the homes to avoid, where
appropriate, the need for police involvement, therefore reducing the number of young
people entering the criminal justice system.
-
We have working agreements in place with all our partners including Safeguarding
Family Support Services, health, CRI, education, and the police, and we have core
membership at a number of multi-agency safeguarding arrangements such as:
-
LSCB Audit Subcommittee
LSCB Learning & Development Subcommittee
LSCB Policy & Procedure Subcommittee
MAACSE
MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements)
CSE and Missing Strategic group
31
a) Board reflections
At a Board meeting in May 2014, the Board members were
invited to spend some time reflecting on last year and thinking
about what they would like to do differently next year. They
were posed an overarching question and three specific
questions to answer:
So, we have done all this activity overall.
Are children safer than they were last year and
what do we need to do next?
• What has worked well that the WDSCB should/needs
to keep doing for future success?
• What will be the challenges/opportunities for an even
better response next year?
• What else/what more can the Safeguarding Children
Board do to meet the challenges/opportunities?
The Board members were also invited to think about the
potential impact on children for each of these questions.
The themes arising from this reflection and discussion forum
are summarised as follows:
139429 Designed and produced by Wakefield Council, Communications 09/15
1. What has worked well that the
WDSCB should/needs to keep doing
for future success?
• Serious Case Review Challenge events.
• Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).
• The way the Board operates/is made up - e.g. openness
and culture of participation, stable membership, sub-group
arrangements and themed agendas.
• How the Board members are empowered/facilitated to do
their jobs - e.g. through training, board development days,
self-assessment day, links with the Safeguarding Adults
Board (WDSAB) and other agencies and being kept up-to-
2