The Sub-Committee will receive a presentation on Safeguarding Adults in Havering.
Minutes:
The Sub-Committee received a presentation on Safeguarding Adults. The officer outlined how introduction of the Care Act 2014 had put adults safeguarding on a statutory footing for the first time.
This laid the foundation for change in the way that care and support was provided. It encouraged greater self-determination, so people maintained independence and had real choice. There was now more emphasis on working with adults at risk of abuse and neglect to have greater control in their lives to both prevent it from happening and to give meaningful options of dealing with it should it occur.
The Sub-Committee noted that the London Multi Agency Adult Safeguarding Policy and Procedures had been produced. This set out the vision that safeguarding was everyone’s business. This provided a shared approach to adult safeguarding through improved practice, feedback and procedures. It also aimed to encourage the continuous development of best practice in order to better safeguard adults throughout London. The London wide launch of the Policies and Procedures would be in February 2016, and locally cross-agency training sessions or/briefings would be arranged to ensure all partners and staff aware of them
The Sub-Committee was informed that the Integrated MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) had been established for both children and adults following a recommendation of a previous serious case review in another borough. It ensured that if an alert came in all agencies involved could co-ordinate a response. It was noted that there had been 159 cases which had been responded to by the MASH in 2015/16. There were 148 categorised as Amber (an individual who was at risk of harm) and these would be resolved in 1 working day, and 11 cases categorised as Green (if left unresolved could be at risk of harm); these would be resolved within 3 working days.
The Sub-Committee was informed that a new post of Principal Social Worker was now in place and the role of the postholder supported continuous professional development across adults and children’s services to support improvements in social work and social care practices. They would focus on standards of practice and would lead in the following areas:
· Safeguarding and Service Standards Unit
· Quality Assurance (Audit and Practice Development) across Adults Services
· Learning and Development
· Business Management and support to the Safeguarding Adults Boards and dissemination of learning.
An overview of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) was given. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 was set around five statutory principles, these principles were:
· Principle 1: A presumption of capacity
· Principle 2: Individuals being supported to make their own decisions
· Principle 3: Unwise decisions
· Principle 4: Best interests
· Principle 5: Less restrictive option
The Sub-Committee was informed that there should never be a blanket decision around an individual’s mental capacity; each decision about mental capacity should be relevant to the decision that has to be made. For example, an individual may not be able to decide about where they live, however they may be able to make decision about what they eat and do during the day.
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards was part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It was noted that the levels of DoLS referrals and reviews had increased from 33 in 2013/14 to 417 in 2015/16. This increase was in line with national figures. The best interest assessments were carried out by someone who was not involved in that person’s care or in making any other decisions about it and must be a qualified social worker, nurse, occupational therapist or psychologist with appropriate training and experience. Each assessment or review took approximately 6-8 hours.
Members asked if the assessment/reviews were only for Havering residents. The officer explained that DoLS applied to Havering residents living in a residential, nursing or hospital setting. This also applied to Havering funded residents in residential or nursing accommodation outside of the borough and those funding their own care in care homes based in Havering. It was noted that for all other settings such as supported living or someone living in their own home (where their liberty is being deprived) these had to be referred to the Court of Protection which was very costly and time consuming.
The Sub-Committee was provided with information on safeguarding performance. It was noted that as at the end of November 2015, 678 safeguarding concerns had been received with 76% progressing to enquiry. The most common locations for alleged abuse to occur were the victims’ own homes (36.1%) and a Nursing or Residential care home setting (41%). Physical abuse was the most common type of abuse (40.6%) followed by neglect (30.6%).
The Havering Safeguarding Adults Board was now a statutory board with strong leadership. The main bodies included the CCG, Police and the Local Authority. A draft action plan for 2016/17 had been developed ensuring that there was early intervention rather than safeguarding allegations.
The presentation concluded with details of a Council-wide campaign to raise awareness, with hard hitting posters and a special business card that had been produced to make sure everyone knew who to contact if they suspected abuse or neglect. This information was being distributed to all staff.
The Sub-Committee thanked the officer for the very informative presentation.