Councillors' briefing on
Safeguarding Adults 2014
To cover:
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What is Adult Safeguarding?
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Legislative framework
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Key agencies
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Roles and responsibilities
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Harm and Abuse
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Local multi-agency policy and process
What is adult safeguarding ?
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Work aimed at preventing or stopping abuse and neglect of
adults who are at risk of harm.
Policy and practice around safeguarding adults has
developed rapidly over the past 13 years as society has
become more aware of abuse and neglect in institutions,
people’s homes and in the community.
Some of the high profile cases include the deaths of
Stephen Hoskin and Gemma Hayter, and investigations into
Winterbourne View and Mid Staffs hospitals
6 principles of safeguarding adults
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Empowerment - Presumption of person led decisions and informed
consent.
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Protection - Support and representation for those in greatest need.
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Prevention - It is better to take action before harm occurs.
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Proportionality – Proportionate and least intrusive response
appropriate to the risk presented.
Partnership - Local solutions through services working with their
communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing,
detecting and reporting neglect and abuse.
Accountability - Accountability and transparency in delivering
safeguarding
(DoH (2011) Statement of Government Policy on Safeguarding Adults)
How?
Safeguarding of vulnerable adults takes place in
communities through a number of different factors:
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Awareness raising and an absence of tolerance of
abuse
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Health and Social Care Services and Police responses
that are of decent quality
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Effective responses to allegations of harm
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Providing access to services, advocacy, justice and
support
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Using learning from safeguarding reviews (the new
term for serious case reviews or SCRs) to improve
services
Policy Framework
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Unlike Children’s Safeguarding, up until now there has
been no direct legislation.
Many organisations, including Action on Elder Abuse and
the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
(ADASS), have for some time called for adult protection to
be on a legislative footing, in order that it receives
equivalent priority
We are currently working to the recommendations of No
Secrets, the government guidance published in 2000 and
reviewed in 2010.
DoH (2000) No Secrets
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required areas to set up a multi-agency framework, coordinated by adult social care and including health and
police, with each agency having a lead manager for the
issue, and to develop policies for responding to allegations,
carrying out investigations and balancing confidentiality and
information sharing.
includes definitions of ‘Vulnerable Adult’ and ‘Abuse’
looks at roles and responsibilities within and between
agencies
details indicators, patterns and signs of abuse
DoH (2012-13) Draft Care and Support
Bill
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expected to come into force in 2015, it places the
safeguarding of adults on a statutory footing for the first
time, and will reform the law relating to care and support for
adults
care and support covers ‘financial, practical and emotional
help’
aims to clarify entitlement to services, improvements in
public information provision, support of carers, transitions
and provider failure
despite calls to the contrary, it provides no powers for the LA
to enter a person at risk’s accommodation without
permission. This would suggest that the Government
believes there are already sufficient powers under current
legislation.
Draft Care & Support Bill
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It will be a legal requirement of each LA to set up a
Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB), formalising the
arrangements most authorities, including PCC, currently
have
SABs will have responsibility to arrange a Safeguarding
Adults Review in some circumstances: for instance, if an
adult with needs for care and support dies as a result of
abuse or neglect and there is concern about how a member
agency of the SAB acted
LAs will have a duty to investigate, or cause others to make
enquiries, if they think anyone with care and support needs
is at risk of neglect or abuse, regardless of whether they are
providing care and support services to the person
Related legislation
The Human Rights Act 1988
The Equality Act 2010
The Mental Capacity Act 2007 (incl. powers of the Court of
Protection)
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (amended the MCA 2005)
Mental Health Act 2007
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
Youth Justice & Criminal Evidence Act 1999
Who is responsible?
Adult safeguarding is everyone’s business. Any person may
recognise and report abuse or neglect and everyone can play
a part in building communities where abuse does not happen.
However, specialist skills are required to investigate.
Guidance calls for all agencies responsible for adult
safeguarding to work effectively with each other; i.e.
community healthcare, CCGs, Health and Wellbeing boards,
Children’s and Adult Safeguarding Boards, and Community
Safety Partnerships as set up by the Home Office to create
links between Police, Local Authorities, Fire, Health and
Probation Services, and Healthwatch.
Roles of Key Agencies
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Councils - to ensure that they set up a Safeguarding Adults
Board, commission services that safeguard individual’s
dignity and rights, and respond appropriately to concerns
about harm or abuse
NHS – to identify abuse, play an important part in
monitoring and supporting adults at risk, and participate in
the local multi-agency arrangements
Clinical Commissioning Group - to commission and
provide independent oversight of services that are safe and
that safeguard individual’s dignity and rights, and to work
with partner agencies.
Police and Criminal Justice System - to join the multiagency process, investigate where crime is suspected, and
to play a key role in promoting community safety
Roles of key agencies
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Care Quality Commission: to register and monitor
compliance against essential regulated standards of quality
and safety
Providers: to ensure they provide quality services that
uphold individual’s dignity and rights, and adhere to safe
recruitment guidance
Safeguarding Adults Board: meets quarterly to co-ordinate
the delivery of adult safeguarding across agencies
Health and Wellbeing Board: to build strong and effective
partnerships, which improve the commissioning and delivery
of services across NHS and local government, leading in
turn to improved health and wellbeing for local people.
The role of Councillors
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As community leaders, championing the wellbeing of your
constituents, you are in a position to raise awareness of
adult safeguarding. You may become aware of individual
cases of abuse through your work with constituents, and
have a duty to report it
Councillors, as part of governance, can ask council
executives and partner agencies to account for the safety of
adults within their area
Nationally, every council will have a Lead Member for Adults
Services whose role will be to promote wellbeing, prevent
social exclusion and protect vulnerable adults
Harm and Abuse
Anyone can be at risk of harm, people may be harmed at
home, in their communities, in a care home, at hospital, in
college, at work or in community centres.
People who harm vulnerable adults largely fall into four main
categories:
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Paid staff members or support workers
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Family members, partners or carers
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Neighbours and members of the community and
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Other adults who may be at risk of harm
Harm and Abuse
Harm and abuse are generally classified under the following
headings:
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physical
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psychological
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financial
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sexual
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neglect and acts of omission
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discriminatory
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institutional
Abuse and neglect lead to negative outcomes such as loss of
dignity, negative effects on health, wellbeing, confidence and
isolation, substance misuse, emotional trauma, injury and
even death.
PCC adult safeguarding structure
Assistant Director
Dave Simpkins
General Manager
Safeguarding
Ian Lightley
Advanced
Practitioner
Mary Cox
Adult Safeguarding Manager
Jane Elliott Toncic
Advanced
Practitioner
Craig Nixon
6 x Social Workers
2 x CCW
Independent Chair
Julian Mouland
Safeguarding
Administrator
Megan Cleaves
Training
Coordinator
Debra Lunn
DoLS Officer
Roslynn Azzam
AVA (Abuse of Vulnerable Adults)
National return
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Total number of alerts from 1.4.13 to 19.12.13:
Alerts concluded, abuse ruled out:
Alerts which went onto investigation:
981
455
404
8 stage process (see flowchart)
1.Alert
2.Referral
3.Screening and decision
4.Information gathering
5.Strategy discussion/meeting
6.Investigation
7.Case conference/protection planning
8.Review
Raising an alert
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If you have witnessed or received a concern about possible
abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult, report this to Adult
Social Care Contact Centre by ringing 668000 to raise a
safeguarding alert
This information will be sent to the ASC Safeguarding
Pathway staff as a referral, who will gather information and
hold a strategy discussion/meeting with key agencies
Priority will be to ensure that an immediate protection plan
is in place for the vulnerable adult
Multi-agency policy and procedures
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Following our rewrite of our Adult Safeguarding policy, we
commissioned its digitalisation, in line with Children's
Services’ arrangements, and the new version went live in
November.
Public access is gained from our main PCC website:
http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/socialcareandhe
alth/adultsocialcare/adultsafeguardingboard.htm
Or the policy can be accessed direct:
http://plysab.proceduresonline.com
It is arranged in clear ‘chapters’, and is regularly updated on
legislation and guidance. ASC staff are signed up to receive
these updates individually by email.
Multi-agency policy and procedures
Further reading and information
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SCIE (2011) Safeguarding adults at risk of harm: a legal guide
ADASS & LGA (2013) Making effective use of data and information to improve
safety and quality in adult safeguarding
DoH (2011) Statement of Government Policy on Safeguarding Adults
Health & Social Care Partnership (2013) The Care Bill: a summary
Prevent Strategy (2011) : part of the government's counter- terrorism strategy,
aimed at preventing radicalisation of vulnerable people
http://www.thinkjessica.com : campaign to protect elderly and vulnerable people
from 'scams' and exploitation
MENCAP (2007) Death by Indifference
DoH (2012) Transforming Care: a national response to Winterbourne View
hospital
Francis Inquiry (2013) report on failings at Mid Staffordshire Hospital
Cornwall County Council (2007) The Murder of Stephen Hoskin SCR
Warwickshire County Council (2011) The Murder of Gemma Hayter SCR
Councillors' briefing on
safeguarding adults 2014
Thank you for listening.
Any further questions?