Quality and Assurance

Established in the summer of 2022, the aim of this subgroup is to develop a programme to provide assurance to the board that local safeguarding arrangements are effective, and that safeguarding practice continues to improve and enhance the quality of life for adults with care and support needs in line with making safeguarding personal. 

The group will also track the implementation and impact of learning and actions arising from local and national safeguarding reviews and analyse safeguarding information from partners, highlighting any issues or concerns requiring further exploration as well as highlighting and sharing good practice.

Prevention, Managing and Responding & Learning Lessons and Improving Future Practice

Our subgroups, abbreviated to PML, focus on:

• preventing abuse and neglect (Prevention)
• managing and responding to concerns (Managing)
• learning lessons and shaping future practice (Learning lessons)

This model for Norfolk has in part been inspired by the principles of Holacracy – a contemporary organisational methodology which distributes power, increases autonomy and reduces hierarchy.

The subgroups meet on the same day, in the same room (albeit virtual), at the same time to all work on the same safeguarding problem. Trigger questions are used to focus discussion and work on a particular issue that we've been unable to solve or improve.

Topics that have been worked on so far include:

• Why is MCA a recurring challenge in adult safeguarding?
• The Suffolk Safeguarding Adults Framework – can we adopt it for Norfolk?
• Delivering learning from SARs and making it stick

Self-Neglect and Hoarding

This subgroup was formed in 2021, in part as a response to the number of safeguarding adult referrals coming through where self-neglect and /or hoarding was a theme.

'Self-neglect' and 'hoarding' are distinct terms, with self-neglect being a relatively broad category of behaviours, and hoarding being a more specific behaviour that may become a form of self-neglect.

The purpose of this multi agency group is to coordinate and lead county and system wide best practice on the topic, in line with statutory guidance.  It supports key partners to identify and discuss safeguarding issues affecting those individuals with self-neglect and hoarding behaviours.

You can read more about self-neglect and hoarding in our strategy and guidance document

Safeguarding Adults Review Group

The safeguarding adults review group (or SARG as it is often known) meets every month and is attended by senior representatives from health, Norfolk Constabulary and adult social care, as well as the NSAB board manager, chairperson and administrator.   The group also has legal representation from Nplaw.  During meetings, the group will consider any SAR referrals that have been received and also discuss any ongoing SARs, multi-agency and single agency reviews.  It's an opportunity for representatives to share and discuss any evidence that their agency has on the particular cases that have been referred.  Conversation and debate can be quite lively as the details of the cases are discussed. Sometimes it can take several months in order to receive all of the information required from agencies to enable the group to reach a decision on whether a Safeguarding Adult Review should be carried out.  

All referrals and investigations are captured and actions from them are recorded on a composite action plan.  The group will meet approximately three times a year to discuss recommendations and actions from completed SARs to ensure that learning from them is rolled out.