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Table of Contents

Scope of Policy

Definitions and Guidance

What is Safeguarding?

What are Abuse and Neglect?

To do this, we will..

What is ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’ (MSP)?

Roles and Responsibilities

Recruitment

Responding to and Reporting Concerns

Action in Emergency Situations

Preventative Measures

Mental Capacity and Safeguarding

Training

Reporting Practice

Keeping Records

Contact Details

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Scope of Policy

This policy sets out the requirements and accountability for SEAH as an organisation and for individuals employed by the organisation.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the organisations policies and procedures including; Mental Capacity and DoLS, Safeguarding Children, Disciplinary, Restrictive Interventions, Recruitment and Reporting Practice Policies.

This policy recognises the safeguarding responsibilities set out within the Care Act 2014, particularly Sections 42-46 relating to safeguarding enquiries, Safeguarding Adults Reviews and cooperation between agencies. The Care and Support Statutory guidance DoH 2014 replaces the previous ‘No Secrets’ guidance produced by the Department of Health (DoH).

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that people receiving support are safeguarded from abuse and neglect and that their rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 are always upheld. This will be achieved by promoting a positive culture of honesty and openness, through staff training, supervision and support and ensuring that staff members are aware how to report their concerns.

This policy will be reviewed annually, or sooner in response to legislative changes, safeguarding reviews, learning from incidents, regulatory updates or organisational changes.

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Definitions and Guidance

Safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:

has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) and;

is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and

as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect

(Care and Support Statutory guidance DoH 2014:231)

What is Safeguarding?

(DoH 2014: 14.7) ‘Safeguarding means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances.’

What are Abuse and Neglect?

The Care Act 2014 informs that all circumstances of an individual’s case should be considered when determining abuse or neglect, however the following are common categories which might be considered:

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Definitions and Guidance

Physical abuse – including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate physical sanctions.

Domestic violence – including psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional abuse; so called ‘honour’ based violence.

Sexual abuse – including rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, indecent exposure and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting.

Psychological abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or supportive networks.

Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult’s financial affairs or arrangements, including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.

Modern slavery – encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude.

Discriminatory abuse – including forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment; because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.

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Definitions and Guidance

Organisational abuse – including neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting such as a hospital or care home, for example, or in relation to care provided in one’s own home. This may range from one off incidents to ongoing ill-treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.

Neglect and acts of omission – including ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.

Self-neglect – this covers a wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding.

Additional Safeguarding Risks - Abuse, neglect and exploitation may also include:

Cuckooing – where a person's home is taken over by others for criminal activity, such as drug dealing.

County Lines – the organised criminal exploitation of vulnerable people to transport, store or distribute illegal drugs.

Mate Crime – where an individual is befriended and exploited by someone who uses the relationship to abuse, manipulate or take advantage of them.

Online Abuse and Exploitation – including cyberbullying, online grooming, coercion, financial scams and other forms of abuse facilitated through digital technologies.

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Definitions and Guidance

Radicalisation and Extremism – the process by which a person may be encouraged or influenced to support extremist ideologies or engage in harmful activities.

Forced Marriage – a marriage conducted without the full and free consent of one or both parties.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – procedures involving the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury for non-medical reasons.

Criminal Exploitation – where an individual is coerced, controlled or manipulated into criminal activity.

Sexual Exploitation – where a person is manipulated, deceived or coerced into sexual activity in exchange for something they need or want, or for another person's gain.

What are the six key principles of adult safeguarding?

The Care Act 2014 sets out the following principles that should underpin the safeguarding of adults that all employees should be aware of:

Empowerment- People should be supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and give consent when possible.

Prevention- Action should be taken to prevent harm before it occurs.

Proportionality- All actions and responses should be proportionate to the associated risks.

Protection- Advice, support and representation should be offered to those who use our services.

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Definitions and Guidance

Partnership- We should work in partnership with those who use our services when determining actions or support options.

Accountability- Our services and responses should be transparent, and we should all take responsibility for safeguarding concerns.

To do this, we will:

Involve people who need care and support in discussions about their safety.

Ensure there’s a culture of openness and that members of staff are confident that any allegations made would be fully investigated to ensure that people are protected.

Ensure all safeguarding incidents are investigated in an open and transparent way.

Clearly document evidence of safeguarding incidents, including how they were dealt with, if any agencies were involved and any follow up action or learning.

Review safeguarding incidents collectively to identify trends.

Ensure staff and people who need care and support know how to ‘blow the whistle’ on poor practice without recrimination.

Make sure everyone knows what to do if they suspect someone is being abused or neglected.

Include safeguarding in our induction.

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Definitions and Guidance

Regularly check staff understand how safeguarding works in practice.

Have a Designated Safeguarding Officer and ensure that our staff members know who this is and how to contact them.

What is ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’ (MSP)?

Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) is a sector led initiative which aims to develop an outcome focus to safeguarding work, and a range of responses to support people to improve or resolve their circumstances. Making Safeguarding Personal aims to develop a safeguarding culture that focus’ on the outcomes that people who are experiencing abuse or neglect determine.

The work is supported by the LGA with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care (ADASS) and other national partners and seeks to promote this approach and share good practice.

SEAH is committed to the principles of Making Safeguarding Personal. Wherever possible, the adult at risk will be involved in decisions regarding safeguarding concerns and will be asked what outcomes they wish to achieve. Safeguarding interventions should be person-centred, proportionate and outcome focused.

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Roles and Responsibilities

All Team Members

Remain vigilant to signs of abuse and neglect.

Report concerns immediately.

Maintain accurate records.

Attend mandatory safeguarding training.

Work in accordance with this policy.

Managers

Promote a culture of openness and safeguarding.

Ensure concerns are acted upon appropriately.

Support team members who raise concerns.

Monitor safeguarding trends and learning.

Designated Designated Safeguarding Officer and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Officer

Provide safeguarding advice and guidance.

Make referrals to Local Authorities where required.

Maintain safeguarding records.

Liaise with external agencies.

Ensure safeguarding concerns are reviewed and monitored.

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Recruitment

SEAH takes great care to recruit appropriate members of staff and to ensure that the staff members we recruit have received adequate background checks.

All new recruits must undergo an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS).

In respect of recruitment procedures, SEAH will:

Comply with legislation and use the Disclosure and Barring Service to ascertain information to assess the suitability of applicants for positions within the organisation.

Ensure that appropriate references are received prior to the commencement of post for all members of staff.

Request a 5 year checkable history as part of the recruitment process.

Ensure that references are received from a reputable source and make further checks or telephone calls to verify the source of the reference if necessary.

Ensure that an Enhanced DBS check is completed every three years within employment for the organisation.

Ensure that mandatory training modules are undertaken prior to commencement of employment and that the induction process is followed.

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Responding to and Reporting Concerns

Any response should be tailored to the individual or circumstances, however it is important to recognise that the main aim is to ensure the immediate and long-term safety or an individual or group of people.

Members of staff should report any concern with immediate effect or as soon as is practicably possible.

The Organisation’s Designated Safeguarding Officer is Manager, Linda Pietrzyk. There are two Deputy Safeguarding Officers, Ceri Lewis and Emma Boultwood-Morgan who can be contacted in Linda’s absence or if the concern is in relation to the DSO.

You can contact them; by telephone on 0800 246 5307 at any time, or via email at mail@seah.org.uk.

There are safeguarding posters within all services with information on how to report safeguarding concerns with a QR code for further information.

If you are in a service that is run by another organisation, please adhere to their policies and procedures for adult safeguarding. Please alert a permanent member of staff or senior within the service in the first instance as soon as you become aware of the concern. You should also alert the Designated Safeguarding Officer for SEAH of your concerns and any action taken.

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Responding to and Reporting Concerns

If you are supporting an individual for whom our organisation is solely responsible for i.e. you are not working indirectly for another organisation, please contact either the Telford Office or on-call and speak to an Assistant Team Manager or the DSO directly. You can call 08002465307 at any time and a manager will be contacted to alert them to the concerns.

You will be asked to provide a statement, so please ensure that you consider the facts of the circumstances, who may have been present/ witnessed or been aware of the incident, times and what was said and by whom. If you would like to do this in writing, please do so ensuring that the email is secure (i.e. not disclosing any names or personal information if you are using a personal email account).

Once you have raised your concern, the Designated Safeguarding Officer will ensure that contact is made with the relevant Local Authority to raise the concerns.

You may also wish to complete a safeguarding referral directly to the relevant Local Authority or contact the Care Quality Commission.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer will also refer any founded instances of abuse to the DBS service for their consideration.

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Action in Emergency Situations

If the situation is an emergency and a service user or another person is in immediate danger, members of staff should take urgent action to intervene and call for support as soon as possible. They should give any necessary first aid and contact the appropriate emergency service when required.

Members of staff have the right to avoid placing themselves at risk of harm in any circumstance.

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Preventative Measures

SEAH will take the following preventative measures to safeguard those we work with:

Ensure that there are always appropriate staffing levels to ensure that people’s needs are met and that they are safe.

Ensure that members of staff receive adequate training and that they are appropriately matched in respect of training and experience when supporting others.

Ensure that staff members know who to contact and what to do in an emergency or if they have concerns.

Offer an open door policy for staff members to discuss things and share concerns.

Ensure that any concerns raised are appropriately managed and that members of staff feel positive that if they share their concerns, they will be listened to and appropriate action taken.

That any instances of behaviours which challenge are investigated and that Managers are always aware of interventions.

That ‘Incident Analysis’ are completed for behaviours which are challenging and increased use of PRN medication and that the actions from these are ensured.

That Assistant Managers and Managers will look for trends or concerns when monitoring MAR sheets and the use of medication or restraint.

That any PRN medication has an associated protocol for staff members.

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Preventative Measures

That staff members feel valued for their contribution to the organisation.

That Assistant Managers, Managers and senior members of staff lead by example, setting examples of positive practice in their language and conduct.

That we will ensure that we carefully select members of staff that demonstrate compassion and an empathic nature.

That we will continuously monitor and seek to enhance the training and knowledge of all members of staff within the organisation.

That members of staff will have regular supervision sessions and opportunity to raise or address concerns.

That we will discuss matters relating to positive and poor practice during supervision and within the course of our day.

That we will address any issues relating to poor or negative practice and take action to ensure that members of staff are clear as to the expectations of them within their role.

That we will ensure that we implement Policies and Procedures that support staff to understand their role and the expectations of them.

To encourage a culture of openness where staff feel able to discuss and therefore prevent the development of abusive situations.

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Preventative Measures

That there is a clear whistleblowing policy which safeguards members of staff who blow the whistle and to ensure that those who disclose abuse are supported.

To ensure that all members of staff are clear that abusive practice or behaviour will not be tolerated within the organisation and that this will amount to gross misconduct and is grounds for dismissal.

That any instances of abuse are reported to the Local Authority and or Police and following a conclusion of investigation that the person found to be the perpetrator is referred to the DBS service.

That all members of staff know the signs of abuse when they occur and that they are able to alert others and make the appropriate recordings in respect of potential abuse.

Members of staff have a thorough induction which includes information relating to safeguarding and reporting processes.

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Mental Capacity and Safeguarding

Everyone working in adult social care should have an awareness of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and how it impacts their role. Please read this policy in conjunction with the organisations Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Policy.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 empowers and protects people who don’t have the ability to make all their own decisions, especially for things like finance, social care, medical treatment and living arrangements.

Where a person is believed to lack capacity to make a specific decision, any safeguarding actions must be undertaken in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and, where appropriate, in the person's best interests. Capacity should always be presumed unless assessed otherwise.

The Mental Capacity Act plays a crucial role in adult safeguarding as it provides a framework for decision making to balance independence and protection.

For example, it can help to determine the ability of a vulnerable adult to make their own lifestyle choices, such as choosing to stay in a situation where they risk abuse, or determine whether a particular act is abusive or consensual.

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Training

All members of staff must undertake a Safeguarding Adults training course as a mandatory part of their induction. Any staff members in a more senior role, must ensure that they undertake more in-depth safeguarding training, however this could be part of a relevant qualification.

All members of staff should be made aware of their role and responsibilities as part of the induction process, and this should include what to do and who to contact should they have any safeguarding concerns.

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Reporting Practice

Please read this policy in conjunction with the organisation’s Reporting Practice (Whistleblowing) Policy. Any member of staff raising concerns should be treated fairly and equally and safeguarded from abuse themselves wherever possible.

Any matters reported will be treated with the utmost privacy and professionalism, ensuring the safety of all of those involved.

All members of staff within the organisation have a duty to report any witnessed or alerted instances of abuse. The organisation will take vigorous action regarding anyone who attempts to suppress a report of abuse.

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Keeping Records

Any reported instances of actual or potential abuse will be escalated to the Designated Safeguarding Officer who will ensure that the incident of abuse is appropriately recorded. This will include ascertaining statements from all actual or potential witnesses. The statements will be written in a clear and accurate way.

The records kept in respect of safeguarding will be kept securely and the organisations policies on Mental Capacity, Whistleblowing, Disciplinary and Confidentiality will be strictly adhered to.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer will always ensure that the appropriate Professionals, Local Authority and or Police are informed and that copies of statements are shared to ensure the safety of the people we work with.

The CQC will also be notified of any instances of abuse or reports from the organisation. The information will include:

The details of the potential victim

Unique identification code

Date of birth

Gender

Ethnicity

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Keeping Records

Disability

Relevant circumstances

Any actions taken

The alleged perpetrator of the abuse

The relevant date, time and witnesses

Who the abuse has been reported to

The Designated Safeguarding Officer will ensure that the abuse is properly investigated to establish the facts and that relevant legislation and policy is adhered to when undertaking the investigation. Records of the investigation and findings will be kept securely.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer will ensure that there is an appropriate action plan in place when necessary and that any actions from the plan are undertaken and all relevant parties are kept informed when required.

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Contact Details

Telford and Wrekin

Family Connect - on 01952 385385 (Monday to Friday from 9am - 5pm)

Emergency Duty team - on 01952 676500 (Monday to Sunday after 5pm)

West Mercia Police - on 0300 333 3000 or 101

Safeguarding forms should be sent to: familyconnect@telford.gcsx.gov.uk

An online safeguarding referral can be found here- https://adultsportal.telford.gov.uk/web/portal/pages/proreferral

Shropshire

First Point of Contact – 03456789044

firstpointofcontact@shropshire.gov.uk

An online referral can be made at: https://shropshire.gov.uk/forms/safeguarding-concern/

Care Quality Commission

Tel: 03000 616161

Safeguarding information can be emailed to safeguarding@cqc.org.uk

If it is a serious matter or an emergency, always ring 999.