Agenda item

4a        Barnsley Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB) Annual Report 2021-22 - Cover Report

4b        Barnsley Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB) Annual Report 2021-22

The following witnesses were welcomed to the meeting:

Bob Dyson, Independent Chair, BSAB

Wendy Lowder, Executive Director – Place Health & Adult Social Care, BMBC

Julie Chapman, Service Director – Adult Social Care & Health, Place Health & Adult Social Care, BMBC

Cath Erine, Barnsley Safeguarding Adults Board Manager, Place Health & Adult Social Care, BMBC

Cllr Jenny Platts, Cabinet Spokesperson, Place Health & Adult Social Care, BMBC

Superintendent Emma Wheatcroft, South Yorkshire Police (SYP)

Dawn Gibbon, Head of Safeguarding, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BHNFT)

Becky Hoskins, Deputy Director of Nursing & Quality, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BHNFT)

Angela Fawcett, Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children, South Yorkshire

Integrated Care Board

Andrew Osborn, Interim Service Director Commissioning & Integration, Place Health & Adult Social Care, BMBC

Emma Cox, Associate Director of Nursing, Quality & Professions, South West

Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT), was also in attendance virtually to answer Members detailed questions.

Members were invited to consider a report of the Executive Director Core Services (Item 4a) and the Barnsley Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2021 – 2022 (Item 4b).

Councillor Platts and B Dyson introduced the report, which outlined the achievements of the Board in 2021-22 and the ambitions of the Board for the following year. Achievements included the multi-agency training offer, work around self-neglect and hoarding, Safeguarding Awareness Week which was led by Barnsley across the county and a peer review which found various strengths and areas of development that the Board were already aware of.

In the ensuing discussion, and in response to detailed questioning and challenge the following matters were highlighted:

Berneslai Homes were not represented at the meeting, but Members were assured that Berneslai Homes had good policies in place in regards to concerns about vulnerable adults and children. Berneslai Homes had their own safeguarding team so they might not need to refer every case to the front door of Adult Social Care. In addition, Berneslai Homes provide the Board with quarterly data evidencing the prevention work undertaken to keep tenants safe. It was highlighted that staff working on new ‘Front Door’ for Adult Social Care now acknowledge if service users are Berneslai Homes tenants, and the ambition moving forward is to have Berneslai Homes as a partner in the ‘Front Door’ to strengthen links with officers.

It is a priority for the Board that people who need safeguarding are involved and in control of the process. The Board had focused on making safeguarding personal and use advocacy to embed positive outcomes. It was noted that there are some individuals who are hard to engage with and some who lacked capacity, therefore it was difficult to ascertain what their experience of accessing support had been. The Board had looked at introducing family conferences to support all adults to design solutions centred around the individuals along with their families and friends. Training and supervision for staff also focused on working with those individuals who are more difficult to engage with.

The board had worked closely with the Local Safeguarding Children’s Partnership to improve transitions into Adulthood, as this had been a concern historically. It was highlighted that a task and finish group was implemented to drive this work forward. A multi-agency Directions Panel was used to provide early intervention for young people. Working together with Children’s Services more closely would save intervention down the line with Adult Social Care or Mental Health Services. CAMHS were currently negating with children and young people to map out the services up to the age of 25 and a permanent offer will be available from April 2023. There is partnership working with INSPYRE to provide support to all waiting in CAMHS and to support a seamless transition to Adult Services for young people.

The recent peer review found two areas of improvement which focus on the tightening of agenda planning and working with other Boards to ascertain where agenda items would be best placed. As a result of the peer review the Board would look at data collection, such as reviewing the quarterly dashboard and the end of year data set so that data could be studied not just on a macro level but on an area-by-area basis or by group of individuals etc. Peer Reviews had been less frequent due to the pandemic, but this is now recommencing across the regions and the Board would be sharing their peer review with colleagues across ADASS. Engagement with other Authorities is important, and the Board regularly shared best practice via regional and national forums such as ADASS ( Association of Directors of Adult Social Services ), County and National Safeguarding Forums.

Members were informed that the Board had an underspend, and this would be invested into a safeguarding post that sits outside the Council. This new post would focus on reaching out the public and customer groups around safeguarding, and the hope is that this would increase the number of public referrals.

The increase in referrals is seen as a positive impact of the Board’s communication and training plan. Partners from the Hospital and the Police agreed that the increase in referrals showed that front line staff are more effective at detecting safeguarding concerns which is testament to the training offer of the Board. The Police now have a member of staff in ‘Front Door’ leading to a reduction in the number of concerns that would not progress beyond the Police. The Board would like to work more closely with the Borough’s care homes as a significant proportion of referrals are made via care home staff. Care Homes provide their own safeguarding training, and the board is working with commissioners to determine the quality of this training.

Members have an important role to play in the safeguarding of Barnsley residents, and Members had been invited to complete safeguarding training in person or virtually. Members could undertake training ranging from beginner to advanced and could also do joint training focusing on both Children’s and Adult’s Safeguarding. It was noted that the email inviting Members to undertake this training should be sent again.

There are staff working with private sector housing colleagues. The Board had increased links with both the Safer Neighbourhoods team and private tenancy team, with a strong focus on identifying self-neglect and hoarding and recognising those who would benefit from early intervention. Joint working had actively been engaged in, such as the self-neglect and hoarding webpage and the D’Clutter club.

The Board had anticipated an increase of safeguarding concerns due to the Cost-of-Living Crisis. A regional approach had been underway, with a Yorkshire & Humber group working on actions that could be taken. The Board had undertaken work to understand the fabric of the local community and who is at risk. Campaigns such as More Money in Your Pocket had been implemented and further communication plans had been discussed to inform local residents of support available.

RESOLVED that

(i)        Witnesses be thanked for their attendance and contribution and for the

excellent work of the BSAB, and;

(ii)        Members be provided with Safeguarding training information to increase uptake.