Huge learning opportunity coming to Norfolk – don’t miss it!

Estimated reading time 6 minutes.

Safeguarding duties are not just one separate part of the Care Act – they are integral in all the work that you do, a responsibility for all staff to recognise and respond to risk, harm and abuse appropriately, even if the concerns do not require a s42 enquiry.

As such there is a lot to be done in adult safeguarding, not only core business, but also new issues to consider and new threats to tackle. 

Emerging new areas of practice

Setting the direction and focus of attention can be tricky at times for a safeguarding adults board. Colleagues who know me point out that I ‘have an eye’ for seeing new opportunities but I do battle with myself between giving attention to important new concerns and risks and balancing these with other equally important areas of work. So, on occasion, it’s not always possible to focus on the ‘new and emerging’ straight away. 

A good colleague, now retired, called it the ‘bright, shiny windmill’ syndrome and described it like this: the strategic plan is like a map keeping us on the right path while on a hike. We are trying to reach a point on the route, and new opportunities are like an interesting feature off the path, something to go off and have a look at. Being in Norfolk, he called these features ‘bright, shiny windmills’. Interesting and important, yes, but they don’t always help us reach the next destination!

With the limited resources we have in terms of people and time, we need to focus on areas of work that we understand will have the biggest positive impact for safeguarding adults experiencing or at risk of abuse and harm.

The challenge is that new areas of work continue to present themselves and some of these get added to the ‘to do’ list.
I must emphasise here this is not saying for one minute that these aren’t important topics of real concern. Trying to respond to everything adds to the stretch and maybe to a sense of push-pull between doing a large number of things perhaps not so well against doing a few targeted pieces of work really well. And ‘really well’ here means being able to show change and positive impact. 

This is a discussion we constantly return to in order to check that we are focused on the ‘right’ things.

Fire safety and emollient skin products

In the summer of 2024, NSAB and its Business Group did some work on the 16 priorities in the current strategy. The priorities are spread across the domains of prevention, responding and managing safeguarding concerns, and learning lessons and improving future practice. 

While all are important, it was decided that we would focus in on one priority in each of the ‘domains’ for work across the year (see table below). 

For learning lessons and improving future practice, this work will support us to produce / share relevant insights and guidance across our multi-agency partnership from our reviews.

One such event to share guidance takes place on Wednesday 29th January 2025, 10-11:30am: a webinar looking at the fire safety risk of emollient skin products. 

This is an issue everyone needs to know about, and that everyone can help reduce the risk around.

Emollients are usually a moisturising cream or lotion applied to skin to soothe, hydrate and protect by creating a barrier over the skin. Emollients are widely used and important for the treatment of skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and pressure sores.

However, scientific testing by Anglia Ruskin University has shown that fabric - such as clothing, towelling, bandages or bedding - contaminated with emollients that contain paraffin, and also those that do not contain paraffin (for example, made with natural oils), burn quicker and hotter than fabric that has not been contaminated. The tests showed the average time to ignition is approximately 6 seconds. Testing also demonstrated that even regular washing of fabrics does not totally remove the risk. 

Did you know that in Norfolk we have had several fatal fires over the last few years linked to the use of emollient skin products? Would you know what to look out for and what to do to prevent such incidents? 

In response, an Emollient Fire Risk Working Group has come together to coordinate the actions needed to reduce these known risks. I would like to acknowledge the work of all the colleagues involved, and in particular Andy O'Connell, Senior Nurse, Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) Quality in Care Team, Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, and Terry Pinto, prevention lead for Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service. The working group is looking at opportunities for education and training for clinical prescribers and social care staff, clarifying responsibilities around risk assessment, to produce easy-read material that will support conversations with people who use emollient cream.

At the same time there are some very easy and quick wins anyone can take. For example:

• first make sure the person is fully aware of the risk (remembering to use the Mental Capacity Act where relevant), and give advice about avoiding fire / heat sources while wearing contaminated clothing or bandages.
• the person might consider giving up or reducing smoking, or
• their GP might consider a non-flammable alternative emollient.
• Are there ‘safer’ ways to smoke, including providing supervision where possible?

National experts to visit Norfolk!

The webinar on 29th January is about getting important insights and guidance out across our multi-agency partnership and help reduce these risks. 

A colleague from Norfolk Fire & Rescue summed it up beautifully when he said:

‘This is a huge learning opportunity coming to Norfolk, it doesn't get better than this, both speakers are national leads on the topic. And they are coming to Norfolk’

At this webinar you will get the opportunity to hear from national leading experts working on this topic:

• Dr Sarah Hall, Associate Professor, De Montfort University. Dr Hall is a Senior Lecturer in analytical forensic chemistry and will share her latest research into the flammability of fabrics contaminated with emollient skin products.
  
  
• Chris Bell, emollient skin products lead, National Fire Chiefs Council will share the latest advice and guidance to minimise the risk of fire. 

Please sign up for the webinar here Emollient skin products & fire safety webinar. 

It’s only 90 minutes but it could really save someone’s life. 

(If you can’t attend personally, please do share this invitation with a colleague.)

Thank you.

Walter Lloyd-Smith
Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board Manager

NSAB’s current priorities 2024-25:

Prevention	Coordinate partnership activities using an evidence-based approach, using language and material that is relevant and accessible, that: ·       raises safeguarding awareness amongst the people of Norfolk ·       targets safeguarding awareness for particularly vulnerable groups, using an evidence-based approach ·       promotes engagement with the resources of NSAB and its subgroups.
Managing	Recognise the different needs & barriers to access which vary across our communities / aim to be inclusive in all aspects of safeguarding
Learning	Produce / share relevant insights and guidance across our multi-agency partnership