The two challenges are:
- Differing perspectives on what constitutes a safeguarding concern (and the circumstances that indicate a safeguarding concern should be raised with the local authority) across health, the local authority, and the Safeguarding Adults Board. (Norfolk and Hertfordshire).
- What is organisational abuse? How should this be responded to and reported? (North East region).
Addressing these challenges demands cultural change, complex solutions, and collective action at all levels as elements of these challenges are longstanding and significant. It isn’t realistic or possible to set out to ‘solve’ the challenges. What helps is breaking these challenges down into specific issues, defining and giving examples of achievable actions that can support commitment, improve understanding and gain progress.
For example, identifying what aspects of this challenge require a greater level of collective understanding? What actions can be taken locally, regionally or nationally that can help? How might this work support more effective outcomes for people? This activity can inform local and national action plans.
What emerged from this work was that leadership is needed at a national strategic level, joined up across sectors to support local and regional change.
Learning from safeguarding adult reviews (SARs) should drive commitment to change. Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews: April 2017 - March 2019 reveals (LGA, 2020) that shortcomings across sectors in understanding responsibilities to raise concerns with the local authority and in the decision making about when to proceed to a safeguarding enquiry are prevalent when things go wrong. Examples of themes from SARs related to these challenges are set out as an appendix to the accompanying FAQ paper.
Specifically, they include:
- uncertainty about safeguarding pathways
- decisions not escalated or challenged
- professionals not taking responsibility for raising safeguarding concerns (‘someone else will do this’)
- lack of legal literacy in respect of S42 Care Act 2014
- safeguarding concerns raised with, but not followed through by the local authority through an enquiry.
Seminal serious case reviews for example Orchid View (West Sussex Adults Safeguarding Board, 2014) and the Francis Reports (2010, 2013) into failures at Mid-Staffordshire hospitals highlight the key part that leadership must play in developing confidence in working with these challenges.
Two regional workshops brought together partners across sectors to discuss challenges. Research, including wide ranging conversations and consideration of SAR findings, was undertaken to better understand the issues and challenges and identify approaches, tools and resources that can address the challenges.
The work evidenced that conversations at every level across all sectors in partnerships are needed to develop confidence and consistency in how concerns and enquiries are progressed and undertaken. Dialogue and development activity is needed to draw on the available research and evidence base to inform conversations. Some aspects of the challenges can be impacted by a local focus and development. Others call for wider cross sector engagement at a regional or national level.
A recent report from the office of the chief social worker, Revisiting safeguarding practice (DHSC, March 2022), underlnes:
Safeguarding is ‘a collective responsibility working across multiple partners who can help address safeguarding concerns…It is vital for effective safeguarding that system partners and professionals work with one another to achieve the best outcome for individuals, considering their full set of needs and wishes. System partners may broadly cover different sectors that the individual needs support from such as the police, health, housing, justice, and leisure.'"