Agenda item

In attendance for this item were:

Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board

Derek Benson, Independent Chair

Bridget Brickley, Board Manager

Worcestershire County Council

Elaine Carolan, Interim Director of Adult Services

Richard Keble, Assistant Director of Adult Services

The Independent Chair and Board Manager of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) had been invited to update the Panel on progress and developments in safeguarding adults in Worcestershire.

The Chairman invited the WSAB Chair to set out the highlights and challenges of the Board’s work and in doing so, the WSAB Chair also drew attention to the content of the annual report, which included background about the purpose of the annual report, the Board and the context for its work which was underpinned by the six safeguarding principles of the Care Act (2014).

The purpose of the WSAB was assure itself that local safeguarding arrangements and partners act to help protect adults in its area who:

·         have needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) and;

·         are experiencing, or at risk of abuse or neglect; and

·         as a result of those care and support needs are unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect

Achievements of the WSAB during the year included a more active and engaged partnership, with good representation from the statutory agencies and beyond. The WSAB team had worked hard to get input from those who had experienced safeguarding issues for example advocacy, therefore input had been extended beyond the statutory members.

Objectives for 2018/19 included improving awareness and workshops had been held about the referral process to try and ensure referrals were appropriate and timely. More time was being spent with advocacy groups. Other areas of work included mental health safeguards and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). In terms of Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs), of 8 referred, 5 had been recommended for a SAR and all had led to action plans. A review was also being carried out into the number of rough sleepers in Worcestershire. Information sharing had also improved and there was a self-assurance process for all agencies to go through. The annual report included charts to analyse safeguarding data and types of abuse, as well as WSAB priorities for 2019/20.

There was a growing realisation about exploitation of adults, which was something the Board was considering how to deal with.

The WSAB Chair was confident there was a strong commitment to safeguarding, although workload pressure was recognised as an issue.

A discussion took place and the following main points were made:

·         the WSAB Chair was asked what was most and pleasing and most displeasing for safeguarding in Worcestershire, and he praised the commitment to partnership working which had changed dramatically from when organisations used to work in isolation, although there was still scope for improvement. What was challenging was the fact that safeguarding boards’ remit was focused on a narrow cohort and not the wider population and therefore the Board sometimes had to wrestle with the fact that an issue it became aware of was not specific to those adults with support needs which were the focus of its work.

·         The WSAB Manager went onto advise that in relation to some of these other issues and prevention, a new network had been set up which met twice a year and included including for example voluntary organisations and district councils, to provide a focus for tricky issues raised which did not meet the criteria for safeguarding boards. The Board was very mindful of prevention.

·         When asked how the WSAB membership ensured there was expertise on the Board or sub-groups to deal with a particular issue, the Panel was advised that membership was guided by the Care Act, with statutory agencies at its heart, such as the County Council. Membership was not set as such and the Chair was open to expansion, such as the recent addition of advocacy, although a bigger group could be trickier to manage.

·         A Panel member asked why the source of a high number of safeguarding concerns – referral source (graph 4.2) were marked as ‘other’ and the Council’s Adult Services Officers present advised they had not yet been categorised, something which the new Liquid Logic (social care IT software) should help with.

·         A Panel member raised the issue of modernslavery and asked how this would be responded to should a situation emerge and the WSAB advised that although this area had not been promoted as such, the new WSAB website and communications sub-group provided the opportunity to do so. The children’s safeguarding agenda was much more advanced than adult safeguarding regarding areas such as child sexual exploitation and it was true that the adult safeguarding agenda had a lot to catch up on.

·         The Interim Director agree to speak to the Council’s Trading Standards department to find whether out they provide advice on modern slavery and update the Panel accordingly. The Adult Services Directorate also raised awareness, for example ensuring that domiciliary care agencies carried out appropriate checks.

·         A Panel member enquired what steps a councillor should take to assist a constituent who was awaiting a response on a safeguarding issue and the Assistant Director of Adult Services agreed to advise after the meeting. The Panel Chair added that it would be helpful for the Panel to have a generic guidance note for such instances.

·         Table 4.4 showed that the majority of safeguarding concerns had taken place in an adult’s own home. A Panel member asked how to tackle the challenge of enabling people to continue living at home whilst ensuring a safe environment, in view of the high risk factor.The WSAB Chair agreed this was at the heart of the Board’s work, its responsibility was to promote wellbeing, highlight services available and raise awareness with partners of the risks of abuse.

·         The WSAB Manager pointed out that reporting levels indicated a growing awareness of safeguarding and referred to mapping work being done by the quality assurance sub-group, to see if there were patterns in reporting which could be targeted.

·         A Panel member asked whether the full range of domestic abuse safeguarding incidents were being picked up, for example women abusing men and women abusing women, and was advised that domestic abuse was the responsibility of another forum which would be better placed to provide this detail, although the WSAB did link in. Public Health was also very active in this area. WSAB was looking into the fact that often incidents were not reported as domestic abuse.

·         When asked how the role of social media in indicating an individual’s vulnerability was picked up, the WSAB Chair said that if a matter had a social media element this would be noted, but WSAB did not specifically monitor. The Council’s Interim Director of Adult Services advised the Panel about awareness training for staff and care agencies, especially around individuals with learning disabilities, many of whom use social media; awareness raising also informed them about its positive use.

·         The Panel Chairman enquired about the challenges for WSAB in progressing its objective to improve awareness across all stakeholders of what safeguarding is, and when it was hoped the elements listed in the report would be completed. The Board Manager explained that the joint website with the Safeguarding Children’s Board was now in place, and the new Training Strategy was expected to be signed off very soon. Completion of the Adult Safeguarding Competency Framework was in hand. 

·         Regarding the WSAB’s objective to seek assurance that stakeholders were continuously improving knowledge and practice in relation to Making Safeguarding Personal, the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, the Panel Chairman referred to the baseline assessment against NICE guidelines of the use of Decision Making and Mental Capacity, which showed 83% compliance with best practice; she asked what the ambition would be moving forward? The WSAB representatives explained that they could check with Worcestershire Health and Care Trust (WHCT), who were developing an action plan for this. The Council’s Interim Director of Adult Services explained that this would also be monitored as part of the Council’s contract with WHCT. When asked whether the baseline figure needed to improve, the Interim Director advised that key indicators would be looked at, although targets needed to be realistic.

Comment was invited from the Chairman of Worcestershire Healthwatch, who reported good, open relations between his organisation and the WSAB, which were open to constructive debate and was reassuring. He highlighted the new way of working through the Sustainable Transformation Partnership, in which safeguarding was important. He also reiterated the importance of soft intelligence in safeguarding, as highlighted by the Independent Chair.

The WSAB Chair referred back to a Panel member’s question about exploitation and reassured the Panel that the WSAB did not want to be caught unaware, and it was very important to be aware of and consider the soft intelligence available.

In relation to the potential for exploitation, a Panel member highlighted the fact that awareness and priority of this issue within the learning disability community was now far higher.

In summing up, the Chairman concluded that the Panel felt reassured by and appreciated the latest update on safeguarding adults.  The following information was requested:

·         Update from Trading Standards’ work on modern slavery

·         Guidance note for members to respond constituents’ queries about safeguarding issues

·         Update on WHCT’s progression of the action plan regarding compliance with best practice against NICE guidelines of the use of Decision making and Mental Capacity.