Quiz question … in the six safeguarding principles, what does ‘P’ stand for?

Estimated reading time: under 5 minutes

News that Jeremy Paxman departs University Challenge after 29 years (hosting the show from 1994 to 2023) is one of those TV moments which is a marker. He signed off with:

‘University Challenge returns later in the year and I look forward to watching it with you. So it’s good night for me. Good night.’

Like many people I do love a good quiz. I am not particularly knowledgeable and no University Challenge contender that is for sure (when I did watch to get two right answers in a row was quite a feat!). So here’s your starter for 10 in the safeguarding adults quiz:

In the six safeguarding principles, what does ‘P’ stand for?

To be fair you can have one of four answers – Prevention, Proportionality, Protection or Partnership. (For a bonus question can you name the other two? *)

I find these principles very helpful and a reminder of how we approach safeguarding adults work. They are a key frame of reference to remind us of how to work alongside a person we are concerned about. These principles aren’t just well intentioned but drawn from the Care Act, setting out the base that should underpin our work safeguarding adults.

The six principles apply to all sectors and settings including care and support services (see Care Act Statutory Guidance 14.13) and should inform the ways in which professionals and other staff work with adults. The principles can also help safeguarding adults boards (SABs), and organisations more widely, by using them to examine and improve their local arrangements.

Linked to the prevention and protection principles I am excited to tell you about two new pieces of work the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) have collaborated on, being published in June. These are:

A Keeping Safe Toolkit resource:

This is a pack to support you to have conversations with individuals or groups of people with additional needs to understand safeguarding and how to keep themselves safe. It is a flexible resource for you to use to facilitate a session with people.  The pack means that family members, care providers, friends and anyone can support someone with additional needs to understand safeguarding and what it means to them as well as what to do if they are worried.

The toolkit is being launched at the Healthy, Happy Safe event for Learning Disabilities Week on Tuesday 20 June at The Forum in Norwich. Do pop along and pick up a copy (it will also be on the NSAB website).

A ‘Hidden harms’ animation:

This 3.5 minute animation looks at the topic of domestic abuse and older adults.

Based on the power and control wheel as adapted by Dewis Choice the aim of this short animation is to be a tool to help support practitioners and families start a conversation with an older adult.

We know from research that this is a very sensitive topic to talk about; older women [and men] may be more reluctant to talk about problems at home due to experiential, cultural, and social factors, and this combined with ageing and subsequent care needs leaves them vulnerable to having domestic abuse overlooked (Older women and domestic abuse | Iriss). Much work has been done to make asking questions (safely) about domestic abuse a “routine enquiry”. This means asking about a person’s safety and wellbeing at home as a standard part of contact / assessment, making it part of your routine, supporting early intervention and therefore better outcomes when risks are present (prevention and protection principles). Routine enquiry is not exclusive to domestic violence and abuse and it can enable staff to understand the context of the person that they are supporting.

An ask ... please share these with your colleagues and drop the board a few lines about where you have used them and how you find it. This will really help us build a better picture of how our safeguarding material is making a difference.
You can email us here.

Pointing to evidence we are making an impact … (AND help us reach 1,500)

You’ve probably heard about our new newsletter, Safeguarding Matters, but let me show you why it can be small things that can make a big difference. Since launching it in January 2023, we’ve grown our subscribers from 540 to 850, and had 2,600 clicks on stories. That’s more people finding resources to share, signing up to events and training, and increasing insight into safeguarding in their own context.

If you haven’t signed up yet you can help us reach our goal of 1,500 subscribers by the end of the year (or before), join this community of people working together to learn, improve and safeguard adults in Norfolk. You can sign up to Safeguarding Matters here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

It is the very best way to keep yourself and your colleagues up to date.

Thank you.

Walter Lloyd-Smith
NSAB Board Manager

Email: [email protected]

* Answer for the bonus question – the other two principle are empowerment and accountability.