Mr Simon Garner, Lead Commissioner - All Age Independence presented information on the work of the Wirral Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board.

Mr Garner informed that the Wirral Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board (SAPB) is a multi-agency partnership that leads the development of safeguarding adults work in Wirral. The Main purpose of the Board being to safeguard adults who are aged 18 and over with care & support needs who are experiencing, or may be at risk of experiencing, abuse and / or neglect and are unable to protect themselves.

Members were apprised that the Wirral Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board seeks to ensure that adults with care and support needs in Wirral are able to live free from the fear of abuse, neglect, harm and exploitation and that the Board was committed to developing a culture of positive learning and best practice across agencies and promote engagement with the wider communities of Wirral.

Mr Garner set out the legal framework  and provided an explanation of how, through the work of sub groups the Board to produce an annual strategic plan, produce an annual report and undertake safeguarding adult reviews - utilising Board representation from a wide range of partners including the main statutory agencies i.e. Health Organisations, the Police, Housing and the Independent and Voluntary Sector, Probation and the Fire service. He further advised the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on future plans for a Combined Safeguarding Board that would encompass membership from Wirral, Knowsley, Sefton and Liverpool Local Authorities. Members noted that an inaugural board meeting of the Combined Safeguarding Board was scheduled for 24 April 2017.

Members questioned the Lead Commissioner - All Age Independence on a number of key points regarding the Combined Safeguarding Board’s membership, lead councillors, administration and arrangements for local scrutiny. The Director for Health and Care informed that the combined arrangements would provide opportunities for learning and reviewing best practice across the four authorities involved. Members noted that it was the personal choice of St Helens and Halton Councils to opt out, preferring to work apart from the new arrangement at this time.

Returning to the report, the Chair highlighted that the perpetrators of abuse appeared to have changed from previous years, with the likelihood of abuse now being greater for those in a care home setting than their own home. The Chair questioned whether this was a real shift or the result of a change in information gathering and or raised awareness. The Director for Health and Care stated that this was partly as a result of greater transparency regarding the monitoring of care homes. Members agreed that this matter be a topic for consideration and review by the Health and Care Panel.

In addition members commented on the ambiguity of the terms substantiated and partially substantiated. It was clarified that the terms for recording outcomes need to be reviewed in the light of the latest statutory guidance (February 2017).

Members were assured that local data would still be available for scrutiny but within a broader framework of reporting across the combined board footprint. Members asked that in relation to the DoLS data whether the authorisation issues had been addressed, and it was confirmed that they were.

Members commented that they would like consideration as to how cases that were receiving ‘increased monitoring’ could later be linked to an outcome  in future reports and how Benchmarking data from previous years could provide more context to the report.

Resolved – That

1)  the report be noted; and

2)  the Health and Care Performance Panel consider the subject of safeguarding arrangements in Care Homes as a topic for inclusion and review in its current work programme.