4.1 Sussex Policy, Guidance and Toolkits

Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs) are multi-agency partnerships that are committed to the effective safeguarding of adults in their respective local areas.

A vital aspect of the work of a SAB is to ensure information is available to the public, staff working in partner agencies, adults with care and support needs and informal carers. A SAB does not undertake operational safeguarding work.

There are three SABs in Sussex: East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, and West Sussex. Each SAB is chaired by an Independent Chair and has subgroups to progress particular work-streams and activity relating to the priorities agreed by the respective Board.

To ensure consistency of approach and to reflect the shared Safeguarding Adult Policy and Procedures, the Independent Chairs and Board Managers of the three SABs meet regularly to adopt shared practices where appropriate.

Purpose:

The Care Act 2014 sets out the core purpose of a SAB as ensuring that local safeguarding arrangements are effective and take account of the views of the local community.

In setting out to achieve this, it must:

1. Publish an annual report outlining its work and findings of any Safeguarding Adults Reviews to member organisations and the public.
2. Publish a strategic plan each financial year with key objectives, consulting with Healthwatch and developed with local community involvement. The SAB must also take account of the views of people who use care and support, families, and carer representatives .     
3. Undertake any Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs).

The Care Act 2014 sets out that SABs have a statutory duty to undertake a Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) when:

• an adult has died, and the SAB knows or suspects that the death resulted from abuse or neglect (whether or not it knew about or suspected the abuse or neglect before the adult died);

OR

• an adult has experienced serious abuse or neglect which has resulted in permanent harm, reduced capacity, or quality of life (whether or not it knew because of physical or psychological effects), or the individual would have been likely to have died but for an intervention;

AND

• there is concern that partner agencies could have worked more effectively to protect the adult

The Sussex SAR Protocol adopted by Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex SABS aims to ensure there is a consistent approach to the process and practice of SARs across Sussex that follows both statutory guidance and local policies.

Making a SAR referral

Any agency or  professional can make a referral for a SAR where the criteria are met, using the SAR Referral Form.

• Professionals and agencies should discuss making a referral with their senior manager or organisation’s safeguarding lead prior to submitting the referral and consider contacting the SAB’s Support Team to discuss
• Members of the public should discuss with a professional or agency involved who will support to consider if the SAR process could be appropriate.

The purpose of conducting a SAR is to:

• Establish whether there are lessons to be learnt from the circumstances of the case about, for example, the way in which local professionals and agencies work together to safeguard adults at risk.
• Review the effectiveness of procedures and their application (both multi-agency and those of organisations).
• Inform and improve local inter-agency practice by acting on learning (developing best practice) in order to reduce the likelihood of similar harm occurring again. Bring together and analyse the findings of the various reports from agencies in order to make recommendations for future action
• Highlight good practice.

Please visit the following websites for more detailed information on the role of the SABs in Sussex, published SARs, annual reports, strategic plans, and current priorities.

East Sussex: www.eastsussexsab.org.uk

West Sussex: www.westsussexsab.org.uk

Brighton & Hove: www.brightonandhovelscb.org.uk/safeguarding-adults-board/

The Sussex Safeguarding Adults Thresholds Guidance for Professionals contains information on signs and indicators of abuse and neglect and what should be reported as a safeguarding concern.

Any concerns about modern slavery should always be reported.

This thresholds document is to be used across Sussex to support professionals, partners, and providers to decide on whether to report a safeguarding concern for an adult with care and support needs It also helps differentiate between quality issues and safeguarding and provides alternative actions that can be considered.

This guidance is for support when assessing and managing risks, and only contains some examples. You should always consider the individual circumstances of each situation and use your professional judgement when deciding on the best course of action.

The Sussex safeguarding leaflet provides information on what to do if you think someone is being abused, neglected or exploited and how to report a safeguarding concern.