Disability, illness or frailty means that many adults over the
age of 18 have to rely on other people to help them in their
day-to-day living. In some situations they may be at risk of
abuse, very often from people they know such as a relative, friend,
neighbour or paid carer.
Abuse can take many forms, including hitting or pushing,
shouting or swearing, unwanted touching and stealing money.
There continues to be a lot of publicity nationally regarding the
abuse of vulnerable adults. Blackburn with Darwen Council is
committed to ensuring that the abuse of adults is reported, dealt
with and reduced. We have reviewed our local services to
check that our service quality and safeguarding systems meet the
new national guidelines in light of the Winterbourne
scandal.
Disabled people are more likely to be attacked, but many
disability hate crimes go unreported. In Blackburn with Darwen
there were 14 hate crimes in 2014 recorded as 'disability
motivated', followed by a decrease to 10 in 2015, against a
national upward trend.
Spotlight on: Local Safeguarding Adults Board
Blackburn with Darwen has had a Local Safeguarding Adults Board
(LSAB) for the past seven years. It brings together local statutory
and independent sector agencies working with adults who may be at
risk of abuse.
The LSAB is made up of senior officers nominated by those
agencies including Lancashire Constabulary, BwD Clinical
Commissioning Group and the Council. The LSAB welcomed Healthwatch
to the Board in January 2015. Its core purpose under the Care Act
is to provide strategic leadership that oversees and leads adult
safeguarding in Blackburn with Darwen.
The LSAB is also responsible for ensuring the Multi-Agency
Safeguarding Adults policies and procedures are effective and
prevent adults from experiencing significant harm. The
policies and procedures are available on the LSAB's dedicated
website: www.lsab.org.uk
The LSAB said goodbye to its long standing Independent
Chair Shirley Williams in March 2015 who was instrumental in moving
forward the safeguarding adults agenda in Blackburn with Darwen.
They welcomed Dr Paul Kingston as their new chair in April 2015.
Paul is a Professor of Ageing & Mental Health and Director of
the Centre for Ageing Studies at the University of
Chester.
Achievements 2014/2015
- A peer review of the Council's adult safeguarding took
place in July 2015. Key strengths identified included strong
leadership, an effective safeguarding team, a clear vision and
strong partnership working. Further work is needed to
strengthen the voice of service users.
- Court skills training: barristers and legal services led
briefing sessions for team managers and social work staff on court
skills, court etiquette and specialist areas such as the Mental
Capacity Act (MCA)
- 96.8% of people surveyed in 2014/15 said that services
had made them feel safe and secure (highest score of all North West
authorities). Ascof 4b.
Challenges
- Following a change in case law last year the demand for
Best Interest Assessments has significantly increased and we are
working to train up additional staff to undertake this
work.
Priorities 2015/2016 and beyond
- Embed 'Making Safeguarding Personal' in the work of
local staff teams, to capture the experiences and outcomes of
service users.
- Co-locate the Adult Safeguarding Team with the
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).
- Complete delivery of the Peer Review action plan and
identify future priorities.
In focus: Safeguarding in Practice - the East Lancashire
Hospitals Trust and the Adult Safeguarding Team
A safeguarding alert was raised for an elderly lady who required
admission to the Royal Blackburn Hospital. She had sustained a fall
in a care home resulting in two fractures and facial
bruising. The lady's daughter alleged that this was the third
fall her mother had sustained in the residential home recently and
she had concerns that her care needs were not being adequately
met.
The elderly lady remained on the ward for further assessment and
the safeguarding alert was stepped up to investigation level. The
East Lancashire Hospitals Trust Adult Safeguarding Officer kept in
regular contact with the allocated social worker and she provided
updates to the ward to keep them informed of
progress.
Investigation findings within the care home indicated no major
concerns but it did identify poor record keeping and that nightly
observations needed to be increased. Residents at the home
were deemed to be happy and relaxed with no cause for
concern.
With regard to the elderly lady, the social worker discussed the
case with the care home manager who stated it had been the third
fall which resulted in the lady's fractures and facial
injuries. The Ward Manager was informed of the
outcome.
After a Continuing Health Care meeting the recommendation was
for the lady to have a fully funded nursing home bed and the family
chose a different care home in the local area. A
representative from the nursing home came to assess the patient and
she was safely discharged to this home.