Agenda item

A representative from the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board will be in attendance to update Members on the Board’s Annual Report 2020/2021 and its Strategic Business Plan 2021/2022.

The Chair welcomed Darren Best, Independent Chair of the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB) to the meeting, who was in attendance to update Members on the Board’s Annual Report 2020/2021 and its Strategic Business Plan 2021/2022.  The following matters were raised as part of the update:

·        Implications of the Care Act 2014 with regards to safeguarding responsibilities.

·        Differences between child and adult safeguarding legislation and practice.

·        The responsibilities of Local Authorities within adult safeguarding and the publication of the annual report, as presented.

·        The role of the TSAB Chair.

·        The reasoning behind the establishment of a single TSAB for the four Teesside Local Authorities.

·        The main considerations of the annual report and the positive outcomes identified within it, including:

-        The breadth of partnership work being undertaken;

-        The various agencies involved in safeguarding and the high levels of engagement achieved;

-        A genuine openness to learning and development;

-        The role of the TSAB Sub Boards and the work carried out; and

-        Serious case reviews and the partnership work and learning achieved.

·        Priorities for 2021/2022, which had been changed to ‘I’ statements: the purpose of this change was to remind of TSAB’s service recipients by approaching from the perspective of the service user or carer.

·        Performance Indicators – four out of five had been met; only one had been missed by 2%.  It was explained that in terms of the percentage of people satisfied with their enquiry outcome, 73% had been achieved.  However, this did appear more promising for the current year.

·        The challenges identified within the report, including:

-        The very complex environment that adult safeguarding operated in, which the pandemic had added to; praise was offered to all those working in the sector.

-        The breath of adult safeguarding, which had grown significantly since the 1990s, and now included such issues as homelessness and self-neglect.

-        How the voice of service users and carers could best be heard in terms of service delivery from the Local Authorities.

-        Work to be undertaken in respect of domestic abuse: the impact on families and links to areas such as children’s safeguarding; homelessness; trafficking; and financial abuse.

-        Staffing and training – reference was made to the impact of the pandemic; a lack of both staff and resources; recruitment challenges in terms of competition from online retailers; consideration that will need to be given towards supporting staff and ensuring sufficient training.

·        Data – reference was made to the general trajectory of the adult safeguarding reports that had been received and, from those, the percentage converted into formal Section 42 enquiries under the Care Act.  Consideration was given to the scenario of a rise in the number of cases and enquiries, and whether this was positive or negative – i.e. positive in that there was increased awareness and reporting of issues, or negative in that it was a significant and increasing problem.  It was felt that, due to the amount of good work taking place, an increase in the trajectory was a positive occurrence.  In terms of the conversion rate from case to formal enquiry, this was circa. 50% nationally, which was reflected locally.  It was highlighted that there were no concerns in terms of Middlesbrough’s data / trajectory at the present time.

During the discussion that followed, Members asked a number of queries of the Independent Chair and the Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration.  In response, the following information was provided:

• Following the indication that 36% of safeguarding concerns had originated from care home settings, it was explained that there had been an increase in the numbers from care homes during the first 12 months of the pandemic, but which had decreased since 31 March 2021.  It was explained that concerns arising from care homes had been at 50% a couple of years ago, prior to safeguarding training being rolled out to care homes.  Concerns from care homes related from relatively minor to more serious matters; often it was the care home flagging issues to seek assistance with rectifying issues.  The rates had been consistent with care homes in Middlesbrough and other areas.  Reference was made to the reopening of care homes and the work that would be undertaken to determine how this had impacted the data.  Concerns were expressed for people living independently in community settings in that some situations potentially giving rise for safeguarding concerns could remain unidentified.
• With regards to the processes involved in undertaking serious case reviews, particularly in terms of consultation with respective agencies, it was explained that cases were looked at from the perspective of the individual and then contact made with the agencies that the individual may have been involved with.  The processes involved were outlined to Members, including the role of the TSAB; details around scope and timelines; and how agencies to be consulted were agreed.  Reference was also made to the role of independent reviewers in undertaking such case reviews.
• In terms of potential gaps regarding organisations involved in TSAB activities, particularly third sector, it was explained that there were some organisations involved, but it would be unmanageable to involve every single one (e.g. meetings currently involved 35 different representatives).  It was therefore important to keep those remaining organisations engaged through other means, as the connections and resources available would benefit discussions.  With reference to a case study example and the issue of domestic abuse, reference was made to heavy engagement work with SafeLives and the office of the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner.  Mention was also made of a domestic abuse strategic partnership and work being undertaken in that regard.
• Members were encouraged to share the ‘See it, report it’ contact telephone information that was provided, and to also direct people to the TSAB website for further information as required.  Reference was made to work undertaken as part of Safeguarding Adults Awareness Week in November, together with other activities that had been completed to raise awareness.  It was felt that this had accounted for the rise in the number of concerns being reported.
• In terms of the types of abuse being reported, it was explained that the annual report provided top-level information; a performance sub-group of the TSAB looked at this in further detail by breaking the data down into categories of abuse and looking for trends.  The work carried-out annually resulted in the creation of Performance Indicators for the subsequent year.

The Chair thanked the Independent Chair for his attendance and contribution to the meeting.

NOTED