What would safeguarding’s 12 days of Christmas be?

Estimated reading time 6 minutes.

Around early November (some would say even earlier) you sense a switch of gear when the perfume adverts on the TV really start to dominate. We must be in the run-in to Christmas.

And true to form, we then have back-to-back Christmas movies on certain channels (in my opinion there are only three Christmas movies that really count – It’s A Wonderful Life, Die Hard and Home Alone. Controversial? Welcome your comments on this one!) and then you spot the Christmas jumpers making an appearance. 

I was listening to the radio last week and the carol The 12 Days of Christmas was being played and discussed.
That was an ear worm I could not shake for the rest of the day. Listening to the words, I did wonder what the speaker’s ‘true love’ was going to do with all this stuff: ladies and lords dancing and leaping, swans swimming, pipers piping, five golden rings, turtle doves AND a partridge in a pear tree!

This late 18th century carol has a surprisingly long history. It is about giving a gift for each of the 12 days of Christmas.
A quick Google search told me that a large number of different melodies have been associated with the song, of which the best known is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk tune by English composer Frederic Austin. 

Setting aside the bizarre nature of this gift giving, I spent the day thinking what would be the adult safeguarding version? 

I couldn’t get all 12, so I do need some help with 11 and 8 please! And you might well have some better suggestions for the others. Here’s what I came up with:

12 = I’ve shared 12 blogs on different topics this year. If I was to pick a standout couple it would be June, opening a tin of tuna, and how we used Kevin Bacon to promote November’s safeguarding week (September) 

11 = Need some help with this one, any suggestions?

10 = There are 10 abuse categories in the Care Act we must be aware of and respond to. The second national analysis of Safeguarding Adults Review suggests the distinction between neglect/acts of omission and organisational abuse remains insufficiently precise, potentially leading to the under-reporting of organisational abuse. There is also a challenge with recording acts of omission. One of the improvement priorities identified is for DHSC to consult on potential revisions to the definitions of abuse/neglect in the Care Act. It is 10 years on since the publication of the Care Act, which seems an opportune moment to consider this.

9 = There has been a 9% increase in safeguarding concerns recorded by NHS digital in 2022-23. There were an estimated 587,970 concerns of abuse raised during 2022-23, up 9% on the previous year, which is the same annual growth rate as last year.

8 =   another gap

7 = There are 7 golden rules for information sharing (scroll down the page). Or we could have the 7-minute briefing – a condensed version of information that makes it useful to busy frontline practitioners 

6 = easy …the 6 principles for safeguarding adults in the Care Act (see June 2023’s blog). These are Empowerment – Prevention – Proportionality – Protection – Partnership – Accountability. Using these principles shapes and guides our safeguarding adults work, read more about the principles here. 

5 = 'The 5 Rs' of safeguarding. These are a useful and structured way to remember what to do if you have a safeguarding concern:

• Recognise. Communities surrounding vulnerable adults should have a clear and definite understanding of the signs of potential abuse, harm and neglect. 
• Respond. This is about asking the question … it could be ‘Is everything OK?’
• Report. Share your concern with a colleague or safeguarding lead.
• Record. Keep a record of what happened and what you did.
• Raise (a concern). If you think it is a safeguarding concern, ring 0344 800 8020 or use the portal. 

4 = is for the 4 Ps in safeguarding, Prevention, Proportionality, Protection and Partnership. Again, this gives us a framework to ensure our safeguarding work is the best and most effective it can be. These 4 Ps are taken from the 6 principles of safeguarding, which have been established by the UK government to ensure the safety and welfare of vulnerable people.

3 = is for the 3 statutory or core functions of a safeguarding adults board (SAB). These are:

1. to develop and publish a strategic plan setting out how SABs will meet their objectives and how their member and partner agencies will contribute;
2. publish an annual report detailing how effective their work has been, and
3. commission Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) for any cases which meet the criteria for these.

Three is also the number of current priorities the Norfolk SAB is focusing on. See the October blog - How to make the message clear and ‘sticky’.

2 = is for the 2 national networks which bring together colleagues to strengthen our collective voice – the board managers and SAB chairs.

AND most importantly of all is …

1 = the person we must keep our focus on, our eyes on: the individual who has been abused or harmed. Thinking here about how we make safeguarding personal to them, enabling safeguarding to be done with, not to, people – ‘no decision about me, without me’.

I hope that when the Christmas break comes, you are able to get some downtime, some rest and recharge your batteries ahead of 2025. 

There are two dedications for this blog.

The first is to everyone who has taken an adult safeguarding ‘action’ in 2024. It might have been big or small -
it doesn’t matter. What matters is you took action to either prevent abuse and harm or responded to it as needed.

The second is to all SAB board managers across the country, whose commitment and dedication supports an absolutely amazing adult safeguarding work. And a special thanks to my seven colleagues on the National SAB Manager’s Network Steering group -
(Deb, Rachel, Paul, Julia, Steve, Leah and Anita), who have worked tirelessly in 2024 to keep the national safeguarding adults agenda moving forward.

Please do get in touch if you can help fill in numbers 11 and 8.

A happy and restful Christmas to all.

Thank you.

Walter Lloyd-Smith
Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board Manager

Email: [email protected]