Agenda item

Briefing Note of Joan Beck, Chair of the Coventry Safeguarding Adults Board

The following representatives have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item:

Liz Kieran, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

Jayne Phelps, Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group

Chris Evans and Tracey Wrench, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust 

The Board considered a briefing note of Joan Beck, Independent Chair of the Coventry Safeguarding Adults Board which informed of the progress made in relation to the three Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) published in 2015 and the outstanding actions completed by the Coventry Safeguarding Adults Board (CSAB). Liz Kieran, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), Jayne Phelps, Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and Chris Evans and Tracey Wrench, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust (CWPT) attended the meeting for the consideration of this item and provided an update on the actions undertaken by their organisations in response to the three SARs.

The briefing note indicated that the three SARs related to incidents which took place in 2013 and 2014 and related to fire death, septicaemia and pelvic abscess, sigmoid perforation and fractured vertebrae. There have been no furthers SARs in Coventry.

As a result of the SARs a series of actions were agreed by the CSAB which included:

·  Improving awareness of and response to fire safety risks

·  Establishing protocols for professionals to work together on a case

·  Working towards making safeguarding more personalised

·  Reviewing pressure ulcer policies and information.

Significant progress had been made in delivery of these actions including:

a)  Events had taken place to disseminate learning and promote person-centred practice

b)  There had been a strong emphasis across the partner agencies on outcome-focused work with people with care and support needs and agencies had developed their training

c)  West Midlands Fire Service had supported and delivered fire health and safety intervention training to a range of agencies and a comprehensive fire safety guidance handbook had been produced for professionals and carers who worked with adults with care and support needs

d)  Pressure ulcer guidance had been revised with a focus on notification and referral process; agencies had delivered further training; and a ‘React Red’ scheme which aimed to prevent pressure ulcers had been set up. Accreditation was given to care homes that demonstrated best practice in all areas of pressure ulcer prevention

e)  Coventry and Rugby CCG, UHCW and CWPT all reported that more robust and effective discharge planning processes were in place.

The Board were informed that on the SAR action tracker, three actions remained incomplete, all relating to quality assurance and consistency of safeguarding training. A plan had been agreed to complete these actions by the end of March, 2017.

The Board questioned the representatives and officers present on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Further information about how initial meetings and case conferences involving individuals and their families worked when abuse or neglect was suspected

·  How a case would be tackled if abuse was reported by a third party and the individual concerned didn’t want to pursue the matter

·  Further information about training for carers

·  More details about the React Red scheme and the accreditation of care homes

·  Clarification about whether all the partnership work on prevention was maintainable in the light of current austerity cuts

·  A suggestion that members needed to be more aware about safeguarding, in particular the signs of abuse and what to do if abuse was suspected.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The progress against the SAR action plans and outstanding actions be noted.

(2) Details of the online Safeguarding training be circulated to all members along with Safeguarding Board information on signs of abuse and what to do if abuse is suspected.