To receive a presentation from the chairman of the Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB) on the work of the board in 2016/17.

The chair of Herefordshire’s Safeguarding Adults Board presented the annual report for 2016/17. It was noted availability of the chair taken with capacity on cabinet agendas had led to this report being presented later than intended. The information in the report was therefore historical but presented an opportunity to reflect on practice and progress.

The chair of the board noted that adults safeguarding had historically had a lower profile than safeguarding of children but that this was an important area of work, protecting not only elderly adults but also adults with other care and support needs, such as learning difficulties, who were unable to protect themselves. 

The collective responsibility for safeguarding was emphasised, along with the specific responsibilities of the council. The role of partner agencies was noted. For example the proactive extension of fire safety checks by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service to include other areas such as preventing trips and falls.

The potential direct and indirect consequences of safeguarding failures were noted, for example where vulnerable adults were victims of scams and lost substantial sums of money this could impact on their ability to fund their own care needs and resulted in greater reliance on the system. It was recognised that there had been a shift for social care staff in working with individuals rather than doing things to them, and in acknowledging that individuals might choose to live in risky circumstances.

It was noted that performance information was still largely predicated on information provided by the council. It was a struggle to get information from the police services and health services, partly reflecting the way data was recorded and lack of national policy in some areas. Work was continuing with these key partners to improve recording of information.

Cabinet members raised a number of queries regarding the report and work of the safeguarding adults’ board. It was noted that:

·         the performance sub-group of the board was considering what further information was needed and how to better gather information from partners;

·         it was difficult to compare performance in Herefordshire with other areas due to inconsistencies in how performance was recorded;

·         there was some concern about the impact of the takeover of the fire and rescue service by the police and crime commissioner on safeguarding work, it was an ongoing dialogue to raise awareness of adults safeguarding across all government departments and with the PCC’s office;

·         despite good attendance from key partners there was ongoing work with some board members to consider alternative reporting arrangements where physical attendance was difficult;

·         it was acknowledged that the budget supporting the safeguarding boards business unit was getting tight but dialogues around this were already under way, if there was a need to commission a case review this would be a one off spend but could be quite expensive and hard to predict;

·         the workforce competency framework formed part of the commissioning framework for partner agencies, there had been feedback that it was a robust document but long and detailed, work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 111

To report on the annual report of the Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB), which addresses the work of multi-agency partners in Herefordshire in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults at risk within the county, including achievements and areas for improvement, and priorities identified for 2017/18.

The chair of the Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB) presented his annual report for 2016 - 2017. In his opening comments he reminded members that the HSAB was focused on a defined cohort of the most vulnerable people in the county, with 3 strategic priorities of partnership working, prevention and protection, and communications and engagement. Within these priorities it was key to ensure that partners were contributing to the work of the board to ensure a whole system approach to safeguarding.

The HSAB chair highlighted a number of points regarding the work of HSAB:

There was a national network of independent chairs which had looked at a number of common issues including an emerging theme of closer working between child and adult safeguarding boards. In Herefordshire the two boards were innovative in the establishment of a joint business unit role, which supported closer working on shared issues and which boards in other areas were considering to replicate.  Consideration had also been given to cross-cutting issues that other agencies such as the community safety partnership were sighted on and there was assurance that the dynamics of such issues were understood and managed effectively within the Herefordshire system.

Other agencies contributed to safeguarding activity and the broader prevention strategy, examples of which included the fire and rescue authority extending their home safety check for those homes at more risk of fire to include assessments such as regarding risk of falls, and ‘flu jabs, on behalf of partners.

The promotion of ‘making safeguarding personal’ (MSP) was fundamental to resolving a safeguarding episode by enabling the system to understand the risks and mitigations around the choices people made.  Following an audit by the local authority, there was a mature understanding of the current position on MSP within the system.

A range of approaches had been attempted to increase engagement and this activity was to be referred to Healthwatch for additional support in seeking the views of people who have been through a safeguarding episode, in order for the system to learn from that experience.  The local authority had a role in actively engaging with providers to support them to make improvements in safeguarding where needed. 

Responding to the report, the chair asked for more explanation of the figures provided to understand the numbers behind the percentages.  

It was clarified that the figures were based on representative samples or a significant proportion of people across county and although there was potential to provide deeper analysis of specific cohorts, the resulting figures would be less reliable as meaningful statistics due to the smaller size of the samples.

A member commented on a reference to HSAB publicity in parish magazines, observing that this had not been apparent in the 5 parishes within her ward. Attention was drawn to the need for everyone to develop a better understanding of safeguarding issues and to be more aware within their communities.

A member made a number of comments regarding the data contained in the report and asked what the figures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16