SUCCESSFUL SAFEGUARDING

Safeguarding was a popular topic generating excellent attendance at Care & Support West's Open Meeting on 27th January. It was good to see representatives from the Safeguarding teams from Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire in attendance and heartening to know that all four authorities had combined to create the presentation. This reflects the decision to create an overarching policy that is the same across the region and the desire for people to work in partnership to protect the vulnerable adults in their care.

The overarching policy can be found here and links to their websites are as follows: South Glos; Bristol; North Somerset; Bath & North East Somerset

Kate Spreadbury from Bristol delivered the main presentation. Slides can be found on the Member Resources /Notes and Presentations section on the website. The presentation was comprehensive and very helpful.  The key messages were that:

• The Care Act created legislation to make local authorities accountable: To have a Safeguarding Adults Board that was multi agency and local, to ensure that enquiries are made into concerns, to arrange advocacy and to carry out reviews. The aim was to create a culture of working together
• Changes in practice were necessary because of changes in definitions around application, different types of abuse and the role of carers. Types of abuse now include self neglect and modern slavery
• The process is simple: there is a common point of access, a case will be passed to a senior social worker who will establish whether a Section 42 enquiry is required by establishing facts, exploring concerns, assessing perceived and real risk.
• Making Safeguarding Personal is at the centre of the Care Act
• Organisational abuse : an enquiry can be triggered when an organisation crosses the threshold of the 'risk  matrix' which is a combination of multiple alerts, general concerns expressed by other professionals, poor CQC assessments, indications around staffing, management and dignity and respect.

Kate, James Wright and Sheila Turner outlined the structures of their respective Safeguarding Adults Boards showing how each of them are organised to maximise local multi agency cooperation. An important message was that would not be issuing leaflets and other collateral and that they urged people to 'Go to th Website' where they could find the appropriate forms and up to date information.

South Glos and Bristol will be hosting a joint conference 'Looking at Quality' on 8th march. It is free to attend.