Multi-agency policy & procedures for the protection of ...

1 West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy & procedures Adult safeguarding : Multi-agency policy & procedures for the protection of adults with care & support needs in the West Midlands. Version: Date of issue: 1st September 2016. Document owners: West Midlands Adult safeguarding Editorial Group Version control 1. West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy & procedures Adult safeguarding : Multi-agency policy and procedures for the protection of adults with care and support needs in the West Midlands. Written by West Midlands Adult safeguarding Editorial Group.

2 Contributions by: David Gray Birmingham City Council Joe Martin Birmingham CCG. Jill Ayres Coventry City Council Anne Harris & Sarah Roper Dudley MBC. Josephine Cullen Herefordshire Council Country Judith McGillivray Telford and Wrekin Council Will Williams Sandwell MBC. Lorraine Currie Shropshire County Council Sarah Hollinshead-Bland Shropshire County Council Karen Littleford Shropshire Partners in Care Susan Walton Solihull MBC. Steve Dale Staffordshire County Council Mark Albiston Walsall MBC. Edward Williams Warwickshire County Council Sandra Ashton Jones Wolverhampton City Council Sarah Cox Worcestershire County Council Sarah Jasper Gloucestershire County Council Fran Pearson Independent consultant Emma Mortimer Independent consultant First published in Great Britain on 1st September 2016.

3 All rights reserved. Version control 2. West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy & procedures Foreword Living a life that is free from harm and abuse is a fundamental right of every person. All of us need to sign up to this principle and to follow it in acting as good neighbours and citizens. Across the West Midlands, all the organisations involved in adult safeguarding are committed to preventing abuse and harm and putting service users at the centre of our work. The Care Act, which came into force on 1st April 2015, is the most significant legislation on care and support in England for over fifty years.

4 The principle that underlies the Care Act is that of promoting the wellbeing of individuals, and of making sure that professionals always recognise that each person's needs are different, and respond accordingly. Service users, carers and professionals have been looking with great interest at the sections of the Act that cover adult safeguarding . With wellbeing, and making safeguarding personal as the underlying principles, the Act gives new duties to professionals involved in adult safeguarding in England.

5 It also gives new rights to adults who need care and support and their carers. As such, it is exciting and welcome. When abuse does take place, it needs to be dealt with swiftly, effectively and in ways which are proportionate to the issues that have been identified. Although professionals in the West Midlands have a longstanding commitment to making sure that adult service users at kept in the centre of safeguarding processes, the Care Act leaves no doubt that it is the person, not the process, that determines how safeguarding work is taken forward by professionals.

6 All working in adult safeguarding have the difficult task of understanding risk, assessing the level of this for the individual and constructing a plan to manage this which works for the person concerned and is understood by those around them. This demands a sound grasp of the legal basis for their work, the agency role and function and referencing Multi-agency procedures alongside professional judgement. With this in mind, the West Midlands region has produced a draft policy and procedures aimed at professionals.

7 This is because we believe that adults with care and support needs are best protected when procedures between statutory agencies are consistent across the West Midlands region. The policy sets out the approach taken to adult safeguarding in the West Midlands. The procedures then explain how agencies and individuals should work together to put the West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy into practice. Mike Taylor Independent Chair, Warwickshire safeguarding Adults Board, and Chair of the West Midlands safeguarding Adults Boards Chairs network.

8 Version control 3. West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy & procedures Adult safeguarding : Multi-agency policy and procedures for the protection of adults with care and support needs in the West Midlands. Contents Page policy SECTION- 1. Introduction 6. 2. Principles and values 9. 3. Definitions 14. 4. Related issues 25. 5. Roles and responsibilities 33. 6. Supporting processes 49. PROCEDURE SECTION- 7. Introduction 60. 8. Adult safeguarding Concerns: Responding & Reporting 64. 9. Adult safeguarding Concerns: Decision-making 74.

9 10. Adult safeguarding Enquiries 83. 11. Adult safeguarding Plans 100. GLOSSARY 109. Version control 4. West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy & procedures policy . Version control 5. West Midlands Adult safeguarding policy & procedures 1. Introduction. This resource reflects the commitment of organisations in the West Midlands and allied local authorities to work together to safeguard adults with care and support needs in line with the Care Act. The procedures outlined aim to ensure that: all organisations promote the wellbeing of adults with care and support needs.

10 The interests of adults with care and support needs are always respected and upheld;. the human rights of adults with care and support needs are respected and upheld;. a proportionate, timely, professional and ethical response is made to any adult with care and support needs who may be experiencing abuse;. all decisions and actions are taken in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). 2005. The procedures also aim to ensure that for each adult with care and support needs: their chosen outcomes are at the heart of safeguarding .