Business Plan (2021 - 2022)

Contents

1. Groups
2. Cross cutting shared priority
3. Hidden harm
4. Care homes

In addition to the priorities identified for this year the Board will continue to operate business as usual to improve safeguarding of adults with care and support needs and meet its statutory obligations as follows:

Groups

1. Review group: Carry out Safeguarding Adults Reviews and disseminate learning from these to identify and implement improvement to partnership approaches to safeguarding adults safeguarding adults.

2. Procedures group: Review and develop multi-agency safeguarding adults procedures to support effective safeguarding responses.

3. Audit group: Carry out multi-agency case audits to gain assurance regarding practice and identify opportunities for improvement in adult safeguarding.

4. Training group: Seek assurance regarding each agencies safeguarding adults training provision. Assess additional multi-agency training needs and co-ordinate and oversee delivery regarding these.

Specific additional deliverables for 2021-2022:

1. Review the current training strategy to cover Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland.
2. Work with the Local Implementation Network (LIN) re: Liberty Protection Safeguards.

5. Performance group: Maintain an overview of multi-agency performance and assurance regarding safeguarding adults.

Specific additional deliverables for 2021-2022: Agreement of performance framework and role of this group as it functions across the two SABs.

6. Engagement group (Leicester SAB only): Strengthen user and carer engagement and raise awareness within our diverse communities in Leicester City.

Safeguarding adults board: Produce Annual Reports. Review and develop business plan. Explore specific areas of concern.

Specific additional deliverables for 2021-2022: Consider and agree appropriate supporting structures for the work of the Boards across the two SAB areas.

Cross cutting shared priority: Understanding and responding to the impact of Covid-19 on Safeguarding adults and children

This is a joint priority with the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Safeguarding Children Partnerships

Rationale

• Covid-19 continues to have a significant impact on children and on adults with care and support needs in how they live their lives, their support structures and services in place for them.
• The Safeguarding Children Partnerships and Safeguarding Adults Boards have been monitoring and responding to safeguarding changes through the past year. During 2021/2022 we expect to move further into recovery from Covid-19.

Outcome statement

• Safeguarding approaches are effective in recovery from Covid-19 and informed by learning from the pandemic.

In order to work across the SCPs and SABs to understand the impact of Covid upon our workforce, and those we work to safeguard, and to support effective recovery the SABs and SCPs will meet in the second half of the year to collate and review learning and assurance related to safeguarding and the Covid-19 response and recovery and agree joint approaches going forward.

In addition within our thematic SCP and SAB priorities we will consider the impact of Covid and Covid recovery and respond to it.

Joint Priority: Covid Recovery

This priority encompasses the following topics:

• Safeguarding Adults Board led: Hidden Harm and Care Homes.
• Safeguarding Children’s Partnership led: Safeguarding Babies, Mental Health, Domestic Abuse, Harm outside the Home, Diverse Backgrounds.

Detail for the Safeguarding Adults Board led topics can be found below.

1. Hidden harm

Rationale

• Local and national SARs identify people “hidden in plain sight” as a recurring theme for improvement.
• We are concerned that during Covid-19 services have less physical contact with and ‘eyes on’ people to fully understand their needs and circumstances, in addition some informal care arrangements that support safeguarding of individuals may not be functioning as they were with restrictions in place.
• Increase in domestic abuse in safeguarding adults cases and across services. Increase in number of alerts relating to Psychological abuse.
• Other areas of concern include self-neglect and individuals with mental ill-health and/or learning disabilities.

Focus will be on community culture shift across practitioners and public to help people to:

1. see concerns
2. have confidence to want to respond and

What will success look like?

• The SAB has a clearer understanding of the extent and nature of hidden harm
• Prevention of escalation of harm
• An increase in reports of certain types of harm and from certain groups, based upon our understanding of hidden harm
• The SAB has assurance that the partnership approach responds quickly and appropriately to harm reported.

Key Deliverables

1. Analysis that outlines the nature and extent of hidden harm relating to Safeguarding Adults in Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland. 

Lead: Performance Group, Engagement Group, Audit Group

Activity and timescales: 

• Engagement Group (L) / Engagement Activity (L&R) to feed information on hidden harm into performance group. Completed by October 2021
• Collate information from across subgroups and partnerships on hidden harm, including analysis of insights project, alerts and community concerns. Completed by January 2022
• Multi-agency audit regarding transitional safeguarding encompassing those with care and support needs regarding mental health and learning disability. Completed by September 2021
• Take part in DA research project and receive report. Completed by March 2022

2. Plan and deliver communications campaign through partners

Lead: SAB

Activity and timescales

Review learning from analysis and amend business plan with key activities to address learning identifying what is require for different groups. Complete by March 2022

3. Training and campaigns for managers to enable effective safeguarding - encourage professional curiosity, escalation and advocacy, including ‘Was not brought’          

Lead(s): Training Group, Task and Finish group as required, Audit Group.

Other partnerships involved: Safeguarding Children Partnerships.

Activity and timescales: 

• Promote guidance and training regarding Mental Capacity Act July 2021
• Identify key messages regarding good practice and routes for communications September 2021
• Develop or commission training for managers around supporting professional curiosity in staff and knowledge of local escalation policy October 2021
• Plan and deliver communications campaign through partners. December 2021
• Embed professional curiosity within multi-agency audits July 2021

4. Public communications and engagement campaign

Lead: Task and Finish Group

Other partnerships involved: Safeguarding Children Partnerships.

Activity and timescales:

• Identify key messages and routes July 2021
• Establish links with existing community engagement work across Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland. June-September 2021
• Plan and deliver communications campaign building on #ourdoorisopen: June 2021.

5. Assurance that safeguarding processes are minimising risk of hidden harm.

Lead: Audit Group

Other partnerships involved: Transforming Care Partnership

Activity: 

• Receive assurance report regarding ‘Transforming Care’ cohort. February 2022
• Multi-agency audit regarding cuckooing. Complete by January 2023
• Follow up Multi-agency audit regarding strategy meetings in new financial year as required. Complete by July 2021

2. Care homes

Rationale

A number of issues in care homes regarding quality of care and safeguarding have become apparent during Covid lockdowns with increase in safeguarding alerts relating to care homes and care homes closing.

Closure of care homes and lack of capacity in the system increases risk around safeguarding.

As care homes open up for visitors more people are seeing those in care homes, and therefore potential for more concerns to be raised.

What will success look like?

• Approach in place to prevent escalation of harm
• Indicators of concern regarding Care Homes and safeguarding are identified and responded to sooner
• Fewer incidences of significant harm in care home settings

1. Clear view of learning regarding care homes and impact on safeguarding of recent care home closures in particular.

Lead: Performance Group

Other partnerships involved: (MAIP / Contracts teams, Care Quality Commission) Leicestershire Social Care Development Group.

Activity and Timescale: 

• Collate intelligence regarding safeguarding in care homes and recent events including: Analysis of concerns data, information from CQC, findings from SARs, Local Authority reports and criminal investigations regarding Care homes. Completed by September 2021
• Seek assurance that care homes understand and respond to care staff welfare to support effective safeguarding. Completed by March 2022
• Identify action for the SAB to support prevention in future in relation to care homes. Completed September 2021

2. The SAB is supporting safeguarding in Care homes appropriately  

Lead: Procedures Group and Trainers Network

Other Partnerships involved: Leicestershire Social Care Development Group and Contracts teams

Activity and Timescale

• Review escalation procedures in line with NICE guidance on safeguarding in Care homes. Completed by September 2021
• Review the reach of SAB information and learning into all care homes. Completed by September 2021