Issue 26 | August 2023
Welcome to the August edition of Pass It On News.
A bi-monthly newsletter bringing you the headlines and new policies, procedures and guidance from your West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board.
In this newsletter
As a result of the outcome of our recent complex case file audit this year, and in context of our self-neglect Board priority, I am writing to request your support with multi-agency working, specifically for complex cases.
In particular, the audit has highlighted a need for strong partnership working for cases which sit both inside and outside of safeguarding processes, to manage risk effectively, and to reflect best practice for the adults we work with.
I know you agree that whether a safeguarding process is in situ or not, to manage complex circumstances and risk whilst also minimising the likelihood of safeguarding being required, joint working to share information and address risk is key. This practice may best be met within multi-agency meetings which I expect any agency involved to be able to request, and for all agencies involved to engage with, either by attending or by providing the information required.
I respect and understand that the ability to attend meetings can be challenging, but I know from our partnership working that there is a strong will and commitment by all agencies to work effectively together to address risk and the complex issues of the adults we work with, and to respond positively to findings following all our assurance work, including Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) and audits.
I therefore would be very grateful if we could continue to work together to further support a culture of seamless multi-agency working, including routine multi-agency meeting practice across all of our agencies.
If there are challenges along the way, to ensure best practice for the adults we serve, please do continue to use the process of escalation (in the case of safeguarding, our Escalation and Resolution Protocol) to ensure any multi-agency practice required is not delayed.
In addition, I am pleased to let you know that the pan-Sussex Policy and Procedures Group are looking to include a section on multi-agency working, and that our West Sussex Board Support Team are supporting on this part of that important work on your behalf.
You will find all our resources, including those on multi-agency working, risk assessment and self-neglect on our Learning and podcasts webpages.
I very much appreciate the ongoing commitment to our partnership’s work and for your support with this request.
With kind regards,
Annie Callanan, Independent Chair, West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board
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We are pleased to let you know that we have now published our 2022/23 Annual Report. We are hoping to publish an easy read version of this report in due course.
Thank you to all who contributed to this report, and for supporting us to achieve our objectives.
The three Sussex Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs) have recently reviewed and updated the Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) Protocol and SAR referral form. The main changes are:
- The SAR criteria now reflects the Care Act 2014 wording stating that “the death was as a result of abuse and neglect” (the previous wording used was “abuse and neglect was a factor in the death”).
- Details on endorsing a SAR when an Independent Chair is unavailable.
- Amendments to the SAR referral form to improve information from the referrer to better show how SAR criteria may be met.
- The anticipated timescale for completing a review has been amended from six months to nine months to reflect the average time a review takes to complete.
The refreshed Protocol and referral form are now available via our SAB website:
The refreshed Protocol is also available on the Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures website.
If you have the previous SAR referral form/SAR Protocol documents stored on internal safeguarding pages, these will need updating with the new versions. We encourage only links to our documents be used going forwards please, to ensure only current documents are in use.
We have recently updated the Safeguarding practice learning resources page of our website, with the following resources. Please do take a moment to read these, and share within your organisations and networks:
- Person-Centred Approaches Learning Briefing
- Mental Capacity Act Learning Briefing
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Our recent Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) in respect of Beverley has highlighted the importance of ensuring a person-centred approach is adopted when working with Adults with care and support needs.
Where possible, agencies are encouraged to actively involve the Adult in discussions about their care, and to ensure that written evidence of the Adult’s views and thoughts are recorded in their care plan. To demonstrate that these discussions have taken place, the Safeguarding Adults Board support the SAR recommendation that agencies please review their internal care plan forms and documents, ensuring there is a specific section where evidence of the discussion with an Adult can be explicitly recorded.
If a discussion with the Adult is not possible or has not taken place, it is vital that the reason for this is also recorded in this section of the care plan, and the views of family/carers/friends/advocates have been sought and recorded, to evidence that a person-centred approach to the Adult’s care has been taken.
To ensure we are Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP), staff are also encouraged to hold and record conversations with the Adult throughout safeguarding processes, including at the start, when reporting a safeguarding concern.
To extend your learning, please do refer to the following learning resources:
Please note that we have added a link to information about support available with the cost of living to our website.
The rising cost of living can impact people in a wide variety of ways. If someone is in need of support to manage the rising cost of living, they can access advice and practical support through West Sussex County Council.
For more information, visit the West Sussex County Council Cost of living webpages.
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Throughout 2023 we are running staff briefing sessions, providing an opportunity for all staff working across our partnership to join a brief session to learn about the work of our West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board. This session will include information about how our work is relevant to your role, vital information about learning from our Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs), and the resources available to embed this learning and support your practice to be current.
Spaces are available on the following upcoming dates and can be booked via Eventbrite:
Coming soon
On the 15 and 17 August from 18:00, our website, along with the other websites listed below will be unavailable due to maintenance work:
We expect this to be no longer than three hours. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause.
The Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures represent the standards for good practice in adult safeguarding in Sussex and have been endorsed by Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Boards. They cover a wide range of policies which should be followed by all practitioners.
Within the next year, we anticipate that there will be changes to the current pan-Sussex website that hosts these procedures. We will ensure that partners are kept up-to-date on any changes that may affect them, both through direct email as appropriate, and in these bi-monthly newsletters.
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