Agenda item

In attendance from the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) were:

Kathy McAteer, WSAB Independent Chair

Bridget Brickley, WSAB Manager

A presentation summarised the activity of the Board in the previous twelve months.  Key points included:

·         The 2015/2016 Annual Report was the first statutory report following the introduction of the Care Act

·         Board Membership had been refined to ensure an effective Board and included a wide range of agencies across the County

·         Seven objectives had been identified in the 2015/16 Strategic Plan and progress was reported as positive overall, including strategies for communication and engagement with both key partners and communities being developed

·         The Board had assurance that all Member agencies were Care Act compliant, that Staff training was updated and beginning to be embedded and if external provider contracts were issued, that safeguarding requirements were also embedded

·         Five Case Reviews were completed and lessons had been learned.  Mental Capacity was a common theme and as a result, this area would become a priority for 2016/17

·         2,653 Concerns had been received, however it was important to note that the figure could not be compared to the 3,662 Alerts received the previous year to a change in definition and how these are managed under the new Care Act

·         In the majority of cases, Concerns were raised by Care Staff, either in a Care Home or Domiciliary Care, or those employed in the Health profession

·         The types of abuse reported was a similar pattern to the previous year, with Physical Abuse and Neglect being the highest

·         There had been a slight reduction in abuse in the persons own home and in care homes, though most abuse continues to be reported as occurring within the persons own home

·         It was suggested that under-reporting continued in Black, Minority and Ethnic communities and it was often challenging to engage with adults with care and support needs who have had experience of safeguarding processes

·         Priorities for 2016/17 included improving communication with the public and partners, build on cross-cutting work already taking place and to check Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were properly understood and being fully used

·         There was a risk that Board objectives may not be fully achieved if Member organisations do not have capacity to support the work of the Board.

The Chairman thanked the WSAB Chair and in the following Member discussion, key points included:

·         Although the 2015/16 Annual Report was the first statutory report, the Panel had received previous reports and it was clear that the Chair was building on existing work undertaken

·         There was a lot of cross cutting work, across all Agencies, including for example, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation.  Transition between children's safeguarding and adult safeguarding was also important and a joint workshop had been held

·         Data was now able to be shared securely across organisations and regular information from all agencies was submitted for assurance and monitoring

·         Further work with faith groups was being planned to highlight the work of the Board and ways of reporting abuse

·         When asked whether it was positive that the numbers of concerns reported is increasing, the Board Chair stated it is always difficult to tell, however, there is some assurance that the data is in line with other Boards in similar areas nationally and pointed out that both under-reporting and over-reporting can present risks

·         There would be an effort to increase public awareness generally and Trading Standards Officers were already working with the Board because of the links between financial abuse and doorstep scamming

·         In response to a question about workloads, the Chair reported that Sub Groups phased their work throughout the year to ensure that they were not overloaded, equally, it provided some flexibility across the spectrum to target key priorities.  There was also quarterly meetings of Sub Group Chairs to ensure there was work balance

·         Strategic planning would take place in January to programme the work for the following year

·         In relation to financial contributions, it was noted that the County Council had funded 41.94% of the Board's funding and the same contribution was secured for 2016/17

·         One Panel Member suggested that care workers, like educational professionals, were increasingly aware of what could be deemed as physical abuse and were concerned

·         The Chairman of Healthwatch Worcestershire commented that the Annual Report showed a depth of knowledge and understanding.  He also directed Panel Members to the recent Care Quality Commission national report on the state of Adult Social Care, available here

The Panel Chairman thanked everyone for their contribution and looked forward to receiving a progress report from the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board Chair in due course.