SAB Newsletter Autumn 2021

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                                                                                              Autumn Edition 2021

Welcome to our new Independent Chair Deborah Stuart-Angus

Chair

 Deborah Stuart-Angus joins the East Sussex SAB as our new Independent Chair and comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge having led strategic safeguarding partnerships for several years. 

As well as taking on the role of Independent Chair in East Sussex, Deborah is also currently the Independent Chair of Essex and Southampton Safeguarding Adults Boards. 

As Managing Director of AssessForCare, she produced the national Domestic Violence Service Standards for the The Home Office, and (former) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; and has been awarded many specialist commissions. She was later appointed as a Senior Lead Consultant to the Local Government Association and is an Associate of the Social Care National Institute of Excellence.  Deborah remains an active member of the South East Regional and National Safeguarding Chairs Networks and is a best-selling author on social care principles and delivering effective safeguarding practice.

We very much look forward to working with Deborah in her new role.


Learning Briefings

SAB

The SAB Learning Briefing section can be found on our website and contains a range of learning briefings which the East Sussex SAB has published in relation to our Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) and Multi-agency Audits to raise awareness of the learning and promote reflective discussions amongst front-line practitioners within our partner agencies.

 Domestic Abuse Learning Briefing has recently been added which draws upon the learning from the Adult C SAR and provides practical guidance to support SAB partner agencies when working with people who are experiencing domestic abuse.

The briefing also provides an overview of the Domestic Abuse Act which came into effect in April this year . You can read more about  the Domestic Abuse Act in our September 2021 Newsletter.

New Multi-agency Domestic Abuse Guidance is due to be launched in December and will be uploaded onto our website next month.


Guidance for Adults experiencing or at risk of Financial Abuse

empty purse

We have recently published guidance to support statutory and voluntary agencies in East Sussex who may have contact or an active role with adults who have experienced, or are at risk of, financial abuse. It also considers young people aged 16 – 17 who are transitioning to adult services, or experiencing domestic abuse.

 

The Multi-agency guidance for adults experiencing or at risk of financial abuse aims to reduce the likelihood of adults being at risk of, or experiencing, financial abuse by ensuring:

  • Adults understand how financial abuse can affect them so they are able to
        keep themselves safe, or access appropriate services.
  • Professionals understand and recognise the risk factors.
  • Effective multi-agency working between all relevant agencies.

A Financial Screening Tool has also been developed which can be used to identify adults who are at high risk of financial abuse. The tool can be used by a worker in any organisation and is to be used in conjunction with the guidance detailed above.


National Safeguarding Adults Week 2021

National safeguarding adults week 2021

Safeguarding Adults Week takes place from 15-21 November 2021 and is a time for organisations to come together to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues,  facilitate conversations and to raise awareness of safeguarding best practice.

 

The theme for Safeguarding Adults Week 2021 is ‘Creating Safer Cultures’ and each day the Ann Craft Trust will focus on a specific topic to facilitate conversations around the theme of creating safer cultures - you can read more about the daily topics on the Ann Craft Website. 

South East regional NHS England & Improvement (NHSEI) are hosting a range of virtual events for Safeguarding Week 15 – 21 November on the theme of “Tackling the Shadow Pandemic of Abuse & Neglect”, offering a series of webinars on a broad range of safeguarding topics.  For more information and to access a flyer detailing the events contact england.sesafeguarding@nhs.net


Tricky Friends Animation

tricky friends

Tricky Friends is a short animation developed by Norfolk SAB to help people to understand what good friendships are, when they might be harmful, and what they can do.

It is important that people with learning disabilities and autism, those who have cognitive difficulties, and  children and young adults have positive opportunities to make and maintain friendships. The animation hopes to raise awareness of the risk of harm and exploitation in groups who may be less able to recognise the harmful intentions of others. 

Norfolk SAB hopes this will help people to think about the issues, to start conversations and keep them safer while enjoying friendships.

It is only 3 minutes long and can be used with or by anyone - carers, family, organisations, groups. You can view the animation on the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board Youtube page


Take Five to Stop Fraud

take five

UK Finance reported that £754m was stolen from bank customers in the first half of 2021 as scammers capitalised on Covid. Losses from bank transfer scams leapt by 71% to £355m during the first half of the year – almost £2m a day.

 

Take Five is a national campaign that offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organisations.

Take Five offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud. The campaign offers advice, updates on current scams and toolkits to use which contains a number of helpful prevention posters and leaflets and Take Five over Tea: which encourages people to put the kettle on and sit down with their parents/grandparents or anyone else they think may be particularly vulnerable and go through the handy prevention and awareness pack.

For further information please visit takefive-stopfraud.org.uk


Safer Streets funding to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls

ospcc

The Office of the Sussex Police Crime Commissioner (OSPCC) have successfully secured nearly £1m from the Government’s latest Safer Streets fund to tackle violence against women and girls and to support education, awareness and behaviour change programmes across Sussex. 

The OSPCC team will work alongside Sussex Police, Brighton and Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and West Sussex County Council to implement a series of training programmes in schools teaching young people about the importance of healthy relationships and how to address sexism and misogyny. The monies will also be used to invest further in lighting, CCTV , volunteer street pastors and beach patrols as well as co-ordinating and driving an effective and lasting response to male violence against women and girls.

To find out what initiatives the funding has been provided for please visit the Sussex Police Crime Commissioner website.


Safeguarding Adult Reviews

SAR reviews

Every Safeguarding Adults Board has a statutory duty to undertake a Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) when:

An adult has died (including death by suicide), and abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor in their death; or

An adult has experienced serious abuse or neglect which has resulted in: permanent harm, reduced capacity or quality of life (whether because of physical or psychological effects), or the individual would have been likely to have died but for an intervention; and

There is concern that partner agencies could have worked more effectively to protect the adult.

The purpose of a SAR is not to to apportion blame, it is to:

  • Establish whether there are any lessons to be learnt from the circumstances of the case, about the way in which local professionals and agencies work together to safeguard adults,
  • Review the effectiveness of procedures,
  • Inform and improve local inter-agency practice,
  • Improve practice by acting on learning, and highlight good practice.

West Sussex and Brighton and Hove SABs have published new SARs in recent months and the reports, learning briefings / podcasts to share learning can be found on their websites.

Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Adults Board

West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board

For further reading :  An Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews was published in December 2020 and presents the findings of the first national thematic analysis of published and unpublished safeguarding adult reviews (SARs) in England since implementation of section 44, Care Act 2014.


STAR’s New Hope - Female Hub

STAR

For some women who have experienced violence and complex trauma, the male-dominated nature of day centres and mixed gender substance treatment services can make them frightening and threatening places they do not want to be.

Research suggests that women-only space is deemed crucial to facilitate safety on an emotional and physical level. STAR Drug and Alcohol Service- East Sussex has developed a gender specific hub for women in Hastings.

The hub offers a range of bespoke services to women every Tuesday 9.30am-3pm based at the Quaker Centre in Hastings. This hub brings together a collaboration of partner agencies who are contributing to this important space for women. Our partner agencies currently include the: Temporary Accommodation Substance Misuse Case Manager, Seaview outreach/,Rapid Access Detox Acute Referral (RADAR)  Independent Domestic Abuse Advisor (IDVA) support, Contraceptive and Sexual Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, and the Foundations Project.

The hub operates a drop-in, offering a range of interventions to women who are experiencing multiple disadvantages and often complex trauma.  There is access to breakfast and lunch alongside recovery activities for women, including, yoga, acupuncture, accessible female hygiene products, clothes bank, nail painting/self-care, access to substance misuse treatment, recovery groups, sensory boxes (complex trauma), and education, training and employment support. 

The hub is in its infancy, and they would welcome any feedback and additional support that partner agencies can provide. Please email Thea.Hendrick@cgl.org.uk


 

Training & Development Opportunities

learning portal

The East Sussex SAB training programme currently includes the following courses:

  • Self-neglect
  • Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
  • Mental Capacity Act 2005: A Multi-agency Approach to Complex Cases
  • Adopting a Whole Family Approach to Domestic Abuse
  • Coercion and Control

If you want to find out about safeguarding training or apply for a place, please visit the East Sussex Learning Portal.


Raising a Safeguarding Concern

contact us

Anyone can raise a concern in the following ways:

Phone: 0345 60 80 191 (8am to 8pm 7 days a week, including bank holidays)

Email: Health and Social Care Connect

OnlineVia  East Sussex County Council website

if it is an emergency, stay safe and call 999.  You can also contact the pol ice on 101 for non-emergency situations. Find out more in our safeguarding leaflet which is also available in an easy read version

Our document Raising Concerns about Abuse and Neglect contains information on signs and indicators of abuse and neglect and guidance on what should be reported as safeguarding concerns.

Remember you can follow us on Twitter @SAB_EastSussex or visit our website East Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board for all the latest news, updates and guidance