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Hi,
My name is Neill Clark and I'm the Development Manager at East Ayrshire Advocacy Services (EAAS). I am responsible for staff and organisational development, as well as managing our ASP Lived Experience Project and HMP Kilmarnock advocacy service.
15 years and still going strong
My first involvement with EAAS was setting up a client database way back when the organisation was only a few years old! Fast forward a few years and I have now been working in independent advocacy for the better part of 15 years, both in North and East Ayrshire, starting from answering the phones on the front desk to being an Advocacy Worker, designing and running the prison advocacy service in HMP Kilmarnock, to my current role with a more strategic focus. I am also a member of the Board of the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, of which EAAS is a founding member.
Lived Experience Project
At EAAS we have seen an increase in Public Protection related referrals (not to mention a 300% increase in monthly new referrals since 2020), and our new ASP Lived Experience Project funded by EAHSCP is focusing on improving ASP processes. Independent Advocacy is all about giving people a voice, and through the Lived Experience Project we are excited to be working with people who have been subject to the legislation so that they can have a say in improving the experience for Adults at Risk in the future. Referrals can be made to asp@eaas.org.uk and the only criteria is that the ASP Episode/s have been completed.
White Ribbon Scotland
Outwith the advocacy service I am also Chair of the Board of Trustees of White Ribbon Scotland, Scotland’s campaign to engage men in preventing men’s violence against women and girls. In my spare time I can be found cycling in the hills around the west of Scotland and beyond.
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Hi,
My name is Arlene Bunton. I am the Independent Sector Lead for East Ayrshire. I'm employed by Scottish Care which is a membership led body and I am aligned to East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership.
I sit on many of EAHSCP's strategic groups and chair the APC Subgroup for Engagement.
My role
My role is to be a representative of the Independently Owned care homes within East Ayrshire, such as the one your loved one is, or may be considering, living in. It's important to me that I am available to care home staff and the Health and Social Care Partnership staff, such as the social workers or the commissioning officer (who monitors the service provided).
I am independent of the local authority and as such can have an objective view on the integration of health, social care and social work in East Ayrshire.
I work with the local care home and care at home managers to find out what is important to them, where supports and training requirements are and to bring important information (such as guidance changes to how they should provide care) to their attention. I offer nurturing, pastoral support to the managers and signpost them to opportunities to be heard.
I represent the entire sector at both a local and national level, advocating for the rights of the Care Home Providers and of those residing within the services.
I am often involved with families and residents when issues arise that managers and/or social work want me to be involved in to support and advocate. With a history in care home management and a current Doctorate Candidate in Dementia and Ageing, I understand the needs and concerns of families and providers.
A bit extra...
It's important to me that care homes are seen as a change of address only, and that your loved ones are still seen as part of their community. Therefore, I am working to arrange multiple opportunities across East Ayrshire to involve outside agencies with the care home and to arrange for your loved one to attend local events.
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For those “mature” enough to remember this line from a song by Soft Cell (give yourself a pat on the back if you remember the name of the lead singer), we enjoy meeting and greeting new members.
It was great to welcome Richard Dunachie, Paramedic and Clinical Team Leader for Scottish Ambulance Service. He brings a wealth of experience and a passion for improving connections and being a champion for Adult Support and Protection (ASP) as well as keeping us all in check to prevent the jargon.
Anita Heyes, Service Manager, EAHSCP joined us and we can already tell that her experience working in ASP in Edinburgh will be a great asset. Anita has already sparked some thoughts on how we support staff working in complex situations.
We were also joined by Gus Harrison, Interim Senior Manager, EAHSCP, a well-known face in the world of ASP who is taking the reins for Maxine Ward, Senior Manager who is seconded to Stirling for six months and who informs us, like Arnie:
“I'll be back…”
We sadly have had to say cheerio to valued members, the part we least enjoy! We want to send our thanks and appreciation to Gary Tait, Local Authority Liaison Officer for Scottish Fire and Rescue who retired from fire and rescue services after our August Committee. Thank you Gary for your contribution in promoting ASP awareness across your service and also for your support in the oversight groups during Covid and the progression of safe places with partners.
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The National ASP Joint Inspection Programme - Phase 1 is now complete and a session led by the joint inspection partners - the Care Inspectorate, Health Care Improvement Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary - was held on 21 August 2023 to report on the overall findings and to start having early conversations around what Phase 2 will look like, as well as the Inspection Framework.
Susan Maguire, our APC Chair, attended and will provide more information at our next APC in November 2023. In East Ayrshire our APC ASP Improvement Subgroup would oversee and coordinate any future inspection activity if required and will remain tuned into these developments on your behalf. On a local note it has been agreed that the local Multi Agency Self Evaluation and Audit for ASP will now be annual (the same as the CPC) and will commence in February 2024. It has been agreed to include a closer look at situations around self-neglect as a local and national priority.
Planning for this commenced in September 2023 and we will be in touch to make sure practitioners join us in planning and undertaking this activity so that we continue to learn together. The findings from this will directly inform any changes to our current improvement plan which continues to progress (35% complete), so thanks to our multi agency workforce who really make this happen.
If you want to find out more about what’s happening in ASP, the Annual Progress 2022-2023 report on Adult Support and Protection in East Ayrshire is available on the internet. The report provided by the HSCP Protection and Learning Team provides an update on progress made towards the key priorities identified in the APC Chairs Biennial Report 2020-2022.
The high level key findings and messages include:
- we have made steady and consistent progress in delivering on our intended priorities through the genuine drive and commitment of partners
- self-neglect continues to be one of the top three types of harm for the second consecutive reporting year and remains a priority for action
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24% of people reported were in receipt of their second consecutive referral, an increase of 7% from the biennial reporting period
- the trend of adult concern reporting decreasing continues, offset against the same increase in Adult at risk reporting
- our APC remains in a strong position to drive improvement forward through are APC ASP Improvement Plan with examples of the progress contained within the report
- we have a community who are both receptive and engaged more in our work demonstrated by the engagement and communication activity with the workforce and individuals with lived experience which is gathering momentum
- there are no new emerging trends that warrant any change of focus or direction at this time with our APC ASP Improvement Plan remaining on target for completion within the timeline of the plan
Both this report and the National Biennial Report Summary informed our APC Development Session held on 25 October 2023.
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The West Of Scotland ASP Practice Network has now revised and produced the West of Scotland (WOS) LSI Guidance 2023 which replaces the previous guidance. It has made some changes which include:
- incorporating key policy updates that include the Adult Support and Protection Code Of Practice July 2022 including a brief section on LSI
- signposts to the need to follow the good practice principles now described in the National Framework document published by IRISS June 2023 previously reported to the APC
- being informed by the unpublished NAPC discussion paper on LSIs from 2021
- no longer prescribing local escalation criteria (three adult at risk reports in 12 months) due to variance in national practice however does include criteria where two or more adults involved in a situation are living within the same establishment or supported by same care service
- the most up to date notification requirements for both the Care Inspectorate and Mental Welfare Commission
- adopting a similar process to that of a Learning Review with a view to agencies becoming familiar with similar systems and this will be considered further in terms of the language used in Ayrshire
- new addition of guidance around the post investigative stage and considerations to be made as part of LSI closure
- new addition of review and evaluation of the LSI process and impact with a suggested framework of self-assessment questions
- offering a sample LSI reporting template that offers an overview of the circumstances and findings as well as areas of good practice and management of the LSI. A similar arrangement has been introduced in East Ayrshire and can be considered as part of Ayrshire pathway to align as far as possible.
- in general, having a more preventative and proactive learning approach which is in line with the APC direction of travel evident in areas such as learning reviews
The next steps locally are for an Ayrshire version of this guidance to be produced by the three APC ASP Leads to consider the use of common language and approach a joint pathway, language and templates. The initial meeting took place in early September and will inform the development of East Ayrshire Standard Social Work Operational procedures that will incorporate the recently revised HSCP pathway and flowchart July 2023.
At this stage we will ensure that local stakeholders inform this work and arrangements will be put in place for briefing sessions.
We are also aware of the plans for further National Guidance however given that the WOS group has consulted closely with both Scottish Government and statutory partners to produce our guidance, we do not anticipate any major changes and will keep everyone up to date.
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The report on the review entitled The Right to Advocacy - A Review of Advocacy Planning Across Scotland from the Mental Welfare Commission was published in April 2023.
The report from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland shows that the planning and provision of Advocacy Services is progressing, but also finds issues with planning, budgets and staffing and highlights a difficulty in recruiting and retaining advocacy staff in the third sector.
Key findings include:
- The results show the majority of advocacy services are planned and commissioned at health and social care partnership (HSCP) level or jointly with health boards and local authorities.
- The number of areas with advocacy strategic plans in place has doubled since the Commission’s previous review in 2018, but not all of these plans were said to be up to date. More than a third of areas still do not have strategic plans, although most of them are in the process of developing one.
- In 2018, the Commission made a recommendation that all advocacy strategic plans should be equality impact assessed. Most areas have not done this when developing their strategic advocacy plans.
- Half of the areas said their advocacy budget had not changed in the last two years, and those who had received an uplift (for cost of living or wage increases) reported there had been no change to their services.
- Compared to 2018, more authorities said their plans referenced the provision of independent advocacy services for children and young people, but despite this increase, it amounts to less than half of respondents.
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The Investigation Report concerns the circumstances leading up to the death of an individual (AB) with a moderate learning disability whose death occurred shortly after their detention under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 was revoked. AB was also subject to Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 procedures.
As with all similar reports, the details included can often be harrowing and difficult to read - so please be mindful of that fact.
This report will be added to the agenda for the National ASP Learning and Development Network to discuss how best to extract learning from this on a national basis, particularly with regard to adult support and protection.
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The Mental Welfare Commission and NHS Education for Scotland have developed an animation “Myth Busting around AWI” (adults with incapacity). It provides information on section 47 certificates; capacity assessment; certain diagnoses such as dementia not automatically meaning incapacity; Next of Kin does not mean a person is Power of Attorney and best interest is not in the AWI principles.
Several of the topics covered were identified as areas for improvement at the interactive session at the APC in May and so would be of benefit to share across agencies. To obtain this animation please contact altformats@nes.scot.nhs.uk.
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The Scottish Government has issued new Practitioner Guidance on Criminal Exploitation which stems from work commissioned last year by the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce.
The guidance is available to all front line workers including Social Work, Police, the NHS, Education and third sector who come into regular contact with children and vulnerable adults. It aims to help prevent both children and vulnerable adults from being drawn into organised crime by giving professionals more comprehensive knowledge, understanding and to develop a wider perspective about organised crime.
The APC is aware that there is a lot of activity around exploitation that have some common elements but also difference in focus. The main three are Child Sexual Exploitation, Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Criminal Exploitation. Further meetings are being held by the Protection and Learning Team to look at the connections and local activity to promote this work so that it isn’t duplicating and that practitioners remain clear and able to be supported to tackle these complex public protection risks without being overwhelmed.
We wish to thank Dianne Ferguson for her zest and tireless passion for working together to connect up the work between and across our protecting people partners and leads.
Great achievements
We have nothing but admiration for your “stickability” and dogged determination to find solutions. We wouldn’t be hearing important messages from the Ear Pod – podcasts across East Ayrshire and beyond about people's lived experience impacted by the stigma and impact of alcohol and/or substance use. One of the kindest and most caring people you could ever meet. If you get the opportunity to work together, grab it with both hands.
All of the work Dianne has accomplished helps support us to be more person centred, creative and accessible which is a priority for our Adult Protection Committee.
Thanks Dianne - we think you're a star!
· AthenA - Home (NHS Employees Only)
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