Latest News August 2023

It’s been another busy quarter for the SSAB and support team. We had our board meeting in June followed by our first ever Assurance and Challenge event.

This was really positive and enabled core partners to share their successes as well as their current challenges. It really emphasized how many partners are experiencing similar challenges and allowed them to share their experiences so others could learn from them. 

We have also recently held extraordinary board meetings to receive and approve Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) Stanley and Christopher and the SAR Panel approved the discretionary SAR ET (more details below).

We have been working hard to produce our annual report for 2022-23, one of our statutory duties. It is always fascinating to reflect on the last 12 months and the vast number of things that have been achieved. The report is currently being finalised and we look forward to being able to share it soon.

HAVE YOUR SAY!

We are holding our first ever ‘Voice of the Practitioner’ survey! We want to hear from all workers, volunteers and practitioners from across Salford organisations who work directly with adults who have care and support needs. So care support workers, care home staff, advocates, charity volunteers, social workers, health practitioners, doctors, nurses and everyone in between – please click this link and let us know what you think!

We want to know your thoughts about safeguarding in Salford, any examples of good practice you’ve observed, and - using your experience and working knowledge – please let us know any suggestions you have to better protect adults at risk. All your feedback will be read, listened to and considered by the SSAB to contribute towards continuous improvements in keeping Salford adults safe – so please let your voice be heard!

The survey is online, mobile-friendly and completely anonymous and should take no more than six minutes to complete. Please share across your teams and organisations – your experience and knowledge is so valuable and it’d be great to hear from hundreds of you!

Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) Stanley

We have recently published a Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) Stanley.  Stanley was 82 years old when he died in hospital after a short respite stay in a nursing home.  He had a diagnosis of vascular dementia and dysphagia and was unable to communicate.  He had been cared for at home by his long-term partner Matthew and went into the nursing home when Matthew needed a minor operation.  You can read the full report or the briefing document via the link above.

Save the date – 12 October Learning Event SAR Stanley

We are holding a learning event to share the learning from SAR Stanley on the morning of 12 October (we have recently changed this from 27 September due to a clash with another event). We are currently finalising details which we will share soon.  If you are interested in attending this event, please email your name, role, organisation and manager’s name to ssabtraining@salford.gov.uk

SAR Christopher

Christopher was a gay man who lived with a long-term partner. He had a diagnosis of cancer and been living with various physical and mental health problems.  Christopher’s engagement with mental health services was sporadic and he was often discharged due to poor attendance and ‘non-engagement’.  Christopher had previously disclosed domestic abuse.  Towards the end of Christopher’s life, he was bed bound due to renal and spinal cancer and he disclosed further abuse from his partner, including coercive and controlling behaviour.  This review will be published soon and a learning event will be held in the Autumn.

Discretionary SAR ET

This discretionary Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) ET was published in June 2023.  ET was living in her own home and went into a care home for a short stay, whilst a support package was being arranged. Whilst in the home, she had an unwitnessed fall which resulted in a hospital admission.  When she was discharged and returned to the care home, she was inappropriately touched on two occasions by another resident. Sadly, ET’s health deteriorated, and she passed away.

Learning themes include: capacity in the care market, hospital admission / discharge, therapeutic support / rehabilitation, sexual assault, safeguarding and management of section 42 enquiries, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) and end of life care.

Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) – Important Update

It was recently announced by the Government that the proposed Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) introduced through the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 which were due to replace the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) arrangements will not be implemented within the remaining term of this government.

The new scheme was intended to provide a more efficient framework for authorising deprivation of liberty and ensuring appropriate protections were in place in a broader range of settings.

This means that Local Authorities will continue to be the supervisory body for all cases in hospitals and care homes and the existing DOLS arrangements will continue as they are.   To summarise, the current legal position:

• DOLS only applies to care homes and hospitals
• Depriving a person aged 16 and upwards of his or her liberty in other settings requires an order from the court of protection;
• Depriving a child 0-16 of his / her liberty can provide via the exercise of parental responsibility (when parenting has not been questioned) or via n order from the High Court (when parenting has been questioned).

Bite Size Briefing on MCA / DOLS - Recording

We held a Bite Size Briefing session to remind people about the current legislation that remains in place.  Please e-mail us at ssabtraining@salford.gov.uk to request if you wish to watch the recording of this session.

Reminder – 7 Minute Briefing on the Mental Capacity Act

We have a 7-minute briefing on the Mental Capacity Act 2005.  Please take time to look at this and refresh yourself / share it with your teams.

Updated Guidance - Think Child – Think Adult – Think Family

When working with children or adults who have children, it is important that professionals are mindful of what is happening in the wider family and are responsive to any support needs or safeguarding concerns that need to be raised for other children or adults within that family.

Following a Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) Mathew, we have updated our Think Child – Think Adult – Think Family Guidance for Children’s and Adults’ Services in responding to safeguarding concerns.

Please familiarise yourself with this guidance.

New 7-minute briefing on Positive Fatherhood

Dads / Fathers have a significant impact on their child’s development and are often an underused asset.  Please take a look at this 7-minute briefing on Positive Fatherhood which outlines the benefits of including fathers and tips on engaging them.

7 Minute Briefing on Unknown male carers and risk

This 7-minute briefing on unknown male carers and risk, summarises learning from Salford reviews and the importance of identifying and engaging with males as an essential part of your working with families.

Good practice – we want to hear from you

As you know, we often share learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews. However, we are really keen to hear about things that are working well.  We want you to share examples of good practice so that we can share them across the workforce.

If you have a positive story to share, please have a look at the good practice page on our website. Speak to your manager if appropriate and share the details with us using the Positive Outcome, Good Practice Review referral form.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Safeguarding Adults Week 20-24 November

A reminder that Safeguarding Adults Week led by the Ann Craft Trust is coming up in November.  The week will be focusing on how you can priorities the welfare and wellbeing of yourself and others.

• Monday: What’s my role in Safeguarding Adults?
• Tuesday: Let’s Start Talking – Taking the Lead on Safeguarding in Your Organisation
• Wednesday: Who Cares for the Carers? Secondary and Vicarious Trauma
• Thursday: Adopting a Trauma Informed Approach to Safeguarding Adults
• Friday: Listen, Learn, Lead – Co-production with Experts by Experience

Now is the time to start planning.  Please see the Ann Craft Trust website for more information on the themes and please think about what you can do during the week to promote safeguarding within your organisation.

Training / Events

• 12 September 10am-12noon - MARAC and DASH
• 14 September 1-3pm - Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent
• 19 September 1-3pm - Small Steps Right Wing Extremism
• 20 September 2-4pm - MAPPA and the Duty to Cooperate
• 27 September - Introduction to Domestic Abuse
• 12 October - Understanding the Threat of Incel
• 12 October - Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) Stanley Learning Event (details above)

Trauma Training

Salford have commissioned Meadows Psychology Service to deliver Trauma Informed Practice webinars available to partners across the city. Three dates were released and response has been tremendous. 5 more dates will be released before April 2024.

Meadows is also delivering 1 day bespoke team training workshops across children’s services throughout the year.

Meadows Psychology Service are a centre of excellence specialising in trauma informed practice. They are leaders in the field for developing trauma informed organisations.

www.meadowspsychologyservice.co.uk

Do you have any SSAB posters or leaflets on display anywhere?

Please can you check to ensure all SSAB posters with the old number (0161 631 4777) are either amended or removed.  The new telephone number is 0161 206 0604. If you drop us an email at ssab@salford.gov.uk, we can arrange for replacement posters to be sent out to you. The new poster also has a QR code which people can scan to get to the SSAB website. 

Upcoming dates:

• 10 September – World Suicide Prevention Day
• 10 September – 10 October – GM Month of Hope
• 14-21 October – National Hate Crime Awareness Week

Links to other news

• Partners in Salford Latest News
• SSCP Latest News

Finally…

If you would like us to include anything in our next bulletin or have any feedback, please email us: ssab@salford.gov.uk

Best wishes

The SSAB Team