Agenda item

To receive the report.

During this item Cllr Gill Slocombe had to leave so Cllr Claire Sully acted as Chair of the committee.

Professor Michael Preston-Shoot, Independent Chair of Somerset Safeguarding Adults Board, presented this report. He explained: the statutory duties the board holds; the multi-agency work with statutory partners; the work relating to preparing for CQC assurance and undertaking mental capacity audits; the concerns around self-neglect, homelessness and placement reviews.

During the discussion, the following points were raised and responded to:-

• Can the committee have a closer look at homelessness?
  • There is ongoing outreach to rough sleepers that is successful. The Lead Member for Adults Services is now also portfolio holder for housing and homelessness so can work on this.
• Shared data is very important.
• Concerned about board attendance – no attendance from the voluntary sector or SWAST. What is the reason?
  • For SWAST there have been issues with other Boards in the South West, they have undertaken a management review and additional resources have been injected so there is now a named representative. We hope that this will improve SWAST representation.
  • We are aware there is more to do with third sector and faith communities. It is on the agenda to reach out to community organisations including faith organisations.
• Would also like to see representation of someone who used the service.
  • This is a priority – we have had case presentations delivered by practitioners about what people with lived experience have told services, but it is not the same. There is more to do.
• For location of abuse, surprised by the percentage taking place in service providers. More information would be helpful
  • There are examples of this in Somerset, e.g. the Mendip House Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) and an ongoing SAR where we are concerned about neglect and acts of omission.
  • Some of the abuse is systemic and organisational rather than due to individual practitioners.
  • There is also a need to be aware of abuse in own homes by care providers.
• For the ethnicity data, is this in line with our population or are there communities that we do not hear about?
  • Yes, this is a national issue. The vast majority of safeguarding is a response to White British and White Irish individuals. There is an underrepresentation of safeguarding in relation to Black British, Black African, and Black Caribbean communities. We need to look at how our services are perceived by people of different cultures and whether we are culturally aware and culturally informed and our offer is culturally appropriate.
• It’s important to prioritise community engagement and listening to those with lived experience. Some of the finds in the report are shocking – safeguarding is everyone’s business.
• Service providers covers a wide range, it would be useful to know what kind of service provider.
  • Abuse and neglect within residential nursing is something SARs have recognised nationally. There is a national review for this on the LGA website. The percentage of abuse or neglect in Somerset is very similar to what we know nationally.
• What is organisational abuse?
  • Where the culture within a service is closed and not conducive to excellent person-centred care and where staff are working in a climate that is not conducive to best practice but to abusive or neglectful practice. It distinguishes from neglect as a result of poor care from an individual member of staff.
  • A further definition can be found in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance: Care and support statutory guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• How do we communicate back to CQC? How often are homes being assessed? How are we sure that prompt action is taken where this is found?
  • Vigilance needs to be 24/7, not just periodically. CQC are an important component, so are contract managers, external commissioners, and Healthwatch. CQC recently became much more transparent and open to concerns and now has a specialist unit for organisational abuse.
• Thank you for all the hard work.
• Concerned about complexity around people and falling between agencies.
  • Housing coming under Adults Services is a positive development. There is still a fracture where we need a whole system/service response.
  • We know colocation works, e.g. putting social workers alongside GPs, mental health professionals alongside police, and housing in hospitals. This is more effective than working in silos.
• There are a lack of GP services and a need for funding for new GPs.
  • There has been a briefing paper sent to central government, awaiting a detailed response from the new government about what we have identified as service improvement priorities. .

The Chair concluded by highlighting the need for lived experience and community engagement and working collaboratively, and thanked the presenter. The committee noted the report.