Agenda item

The Committee received a report which provided Members with the Annual Report for 2021/2022 of the Durham Safeguarding Adults Partnership (DSAP), which provided assurance of safeguarding adults activity across County Durham. There was also an accompanying suite of documents including the Annual Report on a Page and Easy Read version (for copy see file of minutes).

The DSAP Annual Report is minded to its vision to support adults at risk of harm to prevent abuse happening and when it does occur, to act swiftly to achieve good outcomes, consulting with the Local Healthwatch as a source of support to inform DSAP activity.

H Gibson, Safeguarding Adults Partnership Business Manager provided a detailed presentation which focussed on the following areas:

·      Purpose

·      Our vision and partners

·      Safeguarding Adult Reviews

·      Professional and community engagement

·      Strategic plan and priorities

·      Quality assurance and the Safeguarding Adults Collection data

·      Looking ahead

·      Partner assurance

The Chair gave an example of a resident who needed support and asked whether she needed their permission to make a referral to social care direct. The Safeguarding Adults Partnership Business Manager explained that the Data Protection Act supported officers who had genuine concerns regarding the vulnerability of an adult to make a report and an offer of assessment may be given to determine their level of need. She explained however that if the adult did not want to engage with staff, then the support that could be offered would be limited. 

With regards to toxic culture, Councillor Earley asked if there were trigger mechanisms in place to identify safeguarding red flags in organisations that offered care, to ensure that these organisations were referred to the appropriate body for investigation. The Safeguarding Adults Partnership Business Manager advised that there was a variety of mechanisms in place to support establishment reporting and further advised that there was an executive strategy process for establishments of significant concern, and the establishment would not be discharged from the process until professionals were satisfied with their progress.

The Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board advised that quality assurance ran parallel to safeguarding. With regards to toxic culture, she explained that she had developed a training package following the investigation by BBC Panorama at Whorlton Hall where it emerged that culture was extremely toxic. The Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board noted that the training package had initially been delivered to inhouse providers but that there were plans for the training package to be shared with the independent sector. She explained that the package encouraged staff to whistle blow or report incidents that they had witnessed and confirmed that the feedback from staff who had received the training had been positive.

Resolved

The Committee noted the content of the report and noted the future work of the Durham Safeguarding Adults Partnership.