Challenges around effective safeguarding work is the high number of different organisations and agencies involved.
The Care Standards Act 2000: actively recognise its role in safeguarding, the government thereby provide the vision and direction and ensure that the legal framework, including all the key powers and duties, is clear, and balanced whilst maximising local flexibility. This framework should be sufficient to enable professionals and others to take appropriate and timely safeguarding action locally while not prescribing how local agencies and partnerships undertake their safeguarding duties. (No Secrets)
Main body
A strong multi-agency and multi-disciplinary approach is essential as each agency has different roles in preventing and protecting against abuse. We know that when local people get involved, communities can do things differently. We need local authorities and local multi-agency partnerships to provide leadership in moving to less risk-averse ways of working, and to concentrate on outcomes instead of focusing on compliance. The local multi-agency partnerships should support and encourage communities to find local solutions. These solutions will be different in different places, reflecting, for example, local demographics and environmental characteristics.
However, agencies can use the following principles to benchmark existing adult
safeguarding arrangements to see how far they support this aim and to
measure future improvements.
They consist of a range of multi-agency working and information sharing approaches which include front door, Access, Triage, Central Duty Team, Multi-Agency Referral Unit, Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub and Joint Action Teams all aimed at improving and developing the local safeguarding response through better partnership working. They are based on three common principles: information sharing joint decision making and coordinated interventions.
Areas for developing multi agency teams are in the early stages, these include children and adult services with adult engagement evolving as part of a wider adult safe guarding board development. (Department of Health)
In a recent report by Home Office (Multi-Agency Working and Information Sharing Project) the perceived outcomes of multi-agency working call for more robust decision making among professionals based on sufficient, accurate and timely intelligence. Correct risk assessments allowing better allocation of resources and appropriate services for users. Avoiding duplication of process across agencies, greater efficiencies in process: re-allocation of resources to other areas. Better information sharing across partners, recognising long standing patterns of abuse and neglect.
Improving engagement of health partners helping to identify risks and intervene early. Further improving knowledge management by developing better understanding of work whereby staff and partner organisations understand the work undertaken. Also reducing the risk of borderline cases slipping through the net without any action taken. Accessible information and advice are essential for prevention of abuse and for backing up public awareness campaigns, however we must realise one size does not fit all. Information about abuse and what to do about it needs to reach all different sectors of the community through a range of different routes.
Advocacy can make a big contribution to prevention of abuse through enabling adults at risk to become more aware of their rights and for these individuals to express their concerns.
Other legislation such as (Policy on Adult Safeguarding, Department of Health): suggest that bureaucratic accountability to central Government has changed with democratic accountability to the public.
Failure in the system has
Conclusion
These support system are built upon protecting and promotion of peoples human right, thereby lower the risk of people experiencing abuse or neglect. We must also make safeguarding everyone’s responsibility, we must be vigilant and to able to recognise and report abuse. Care and support organisations must ensure they are meeting their own responsibilities for keeping people safe