Agenda item

5.1  Anne Canning presented the City and Hackney Safeguarding Adults Board Annual report. Adi Copper was unable able to attend the meeting. She referred to Board as effective and working well.  Anne Canning told the Board that on third of enquiries had led to a section 42 inquiry. She stressed the importance of those accessing the service to confident in doing so.  Three quarters of those spoke to had confirmed that their needs had been met by the service. Seeking feedback on the service was a high priority and the general statistics had improved. One of the key roles of the Board was to be involved when things go wrong. 

5.2  Anne Canning referred the Board to the SAR referrals in 1918/19 of Ms Q and Ms F. In the case of MS Q the SAR referral identified that a number of agencies had been involved in providing care to Ms Q and that there may have been a lack of effective agency work in managing identified risk to Ms Q including self-neglect. Ms F’s mattress had deflated and it had taken 7 days to fix, causing her significant harm. The risks to Ms F had not been recognised. Anne Canning referred the Board to the death of Mr S in a Bus Shelter in the Borough.     

5.3  One of the main areas of concern was abuse.  A system of champions in the community was being developed with a number of workshops on this and champions attending the safeguarding board.  Anne Canning stressed the need to get the message on safeguarding out into the Community.

5.4  Anne Canning told the Board that the City of London Corporation had developed a modern-day slavery statement in November 2018. The focus of the modern day slavery group was to raise awareness about this issue and provide training.  

5.5  Jon Williams told the Board that discussing safeguarding with the public remained a challenge and that the public felt an anxiety about reporting.

5.6  Carol Akroyd (keep the NHS public) spoke to the Board, stating that vulnerable people such as migrants were negatively impacted by a changes in NHS policy. Senior doctors were looking at ways to ensure there is access to the services. Catherine Pelley told the Board that bills were accompanied by debt management. There were not many people attending and a much of the service was free. Work would be undertaken with the migrants centre on this matter.

5.7  Councillor Bramble reported work with the Adults Safeguarding Board to help learn lessons. Anne Canning confirmed that children’s social workers consult with adult social worker on a way forward. There was a shared understanding of what was common to all through the points of transition from childhood to adulthood. She stated that when vulnerable young people move through the system, such as young people with SEND did not receive the same level of support.

5.8 The Mayor Philip Granville stressed the need for the provision of a consistent standard of safeguarding regardless of status or financial resources together with the importance of hearing the voice of service users. He referred to the fact that the SAR referrals had raised the challenge of meeting service user expectations and ensuring effective safeguarding response. Anne Canning confirmed that safeguarding met the need of the most vulnerable in the Borough but would monitor the experience of migrant groups and the very vulnerable.