Fairfield Association Safeguarding Adults Policy

In addition to our constitution, we have also developed an Adult Safeguarding Policy to help us provide a welcoming and supportive environment for all our volunteers. The full document is on this page, and can also be downloaded as PDF. Adult Safeguarding Policy (PDF 593K)

Version 1	May 2019
Author	Michael Sheppard
Review Date	May 2020
File Location	FA Google Drive and website

Aims

The Fairfield Association has as its charitable object:

The preservation, enhancement and maintenance of public areas and amenities in the City of Lancaster, in particular the Fairfield area, for the benefit of the public

To deliver on this object we undertake a range of exclusively volunteer based activity to look after and enjoy our local green spaces and to raise funds in support of that.

The Fairfield Association welcomes people who by nature of having a learning disability, living with dementia or other forms of impairment are at risk of social exclusion and the Association wants them to be involved in its activities.

However, we recognise that these people can also experience a greater degree of vulnerability, and can be subject to abuse or neglect. The Fairfield Association recognises its responsibility to be aware of that risk. The Association will not tolerate the abuse of adults in any of its forms and is committed to safeguarding adults with care and support needs from harm.

This policy outlines the steps the Fairfield Association will make to safeguard an adult with care and support needs if they are deemed to be at risk or at risk. This policy sets out the roles and responsibilities of the Fairfield Association in working together with professionals and agencies in promoting the adult’s welfare and safeguarding them from abuse and neglect.

the Fairfield Association will ensure that decisions made will allow adults to make their own choices and include them in any decision making. the Fairfield Association will also ensure that safe and effective working practices are in place.

This policy is intended to support volunteers working within the Fairfield Association to understand their role and responsibilities in safeguarding adults. All volunteers are expected to follow this policy.

The key objectives of this policy are for all volunteers of the Fairfield Association to:

have an overview of adult safeguarding
be clear about their responsibility to safeguard adults
ensure the necessary actions are taken where an adult with care and support needs is deemed to be at risk

This policy is based on:

The Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support statutory guidance
Pan Lancashire and Cumbria Safeguarding Adults Board Policies and Procedures

Under the Human Rights Act 1998, everyone has the right to live free from abuse and neglect. https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human –rights/human –rights –act

Copies of this policy should be available within the Fairfield Association and volunteers should be made aware of how this policy can be accessed.

What is Safeguarding adults?

Safeguarding means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances.
Care and Support Statutory Guidance, Department of Health, updated February 2017

All adults should be able to live free from fear and harm. But some may find it hard to get the help and support they need to stop abuse.

An adult may be unable to protect themselves from harm or exploitation due to many reasons, including their mental or physical incapacity, sensory loss or physical or learning disabilities. This could be an adult who is usually able to protect themselves from harm but maybe unable to do so because of an accident, disability, frailty, addiction or illness.

The Fairfield Association adheres to following the six key principles that underpin safeguarding work (See Care Act guidance)

Empowerment
Prevention
Proportionality
Protection
Partnership
Accountability

The Fairfield Association will not tolerate the abuse of adults and volunteers should ensure that their work reflects the principles above and ensure the adult with care and support needs is involved in their decisions and informed consent is obtained. the Fairfield Association should ensure that the safeguarding action agreed is the least intrusive response to the risk. Partners from the community should be involved in any safeguarding work in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse. The Fairfield Association should be transparent and accountable in delivering safeguarding actions.

What is Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP)?

MSP means a case should be person-led and outcome-focused. The individual should be involved in identifying how best to respond to their safeguarding situation by giving them more choice and control as well as improving quality of life, wellbeing and safety.

the Fairfield Association will not tolerate the abuse of adults. The Association will ensure that adults are involved in their safeguarding arrangements and each individual is dealt with on a case by case basis. As adults may have different preferences, histories and life styles, the same process may not work for all.

Who do adult safeguarding duties apply to?

The Care Act 2014 sets out that adult safeguarding duties apply to any adult who:

has care and support needs, and
is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse and neglect, and
is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect, because of those needs.

Who do I go to if I am concerned?

The named responsible person for safeguarding duties for the Fairfield Association is Michael Sheppard, who is one of the Trustees and can be contacted on (01524) 382802.

All staff and volunteers should contact Michael Sheppard for any concerns/queries they have in regards to safeguarding adults. In the event that Michael Sheppard is unavailable, Hilary Short (Chair) should be contacted on (01524) 63890. A log of the concern must be kept.

Michael Sheppard or Hilary Short will be responsible to make decisions about notifying adult social services if required and consider alternative actions, where necessary.

Michael Sheppard will also ensure that the safeguarding adults policies and procedures are in place and up to date. They will ensure a safe environment is promoted for volunteers and adults involved in its activities and will ensure they are up to date with their safeguarding adults training as relevant to their role.

What should I do if I am concerned?

Volunteers who have any adult safeguarding concerns should:

Respond
- Take emergency action if someone is at immediate risk of harm/in need of urgent medical attention. Dial 999 for emergency service
- Get brief details about what has happened and what the adult would like done about it, but do not probe or conduct a mini-investigation
- Seek consent from the adult to take action and to report the concern. Consider whether the adult may lack capacity to make decisions about their own and other people’s safety and wellbeing. If you decide to act against their wishes or without their consent, you must record your decision and the reasons for this.
Report
- To Michael Sheppard, who is one of the Trustees and can be contacted on (01524) 382802 In the event that Michael Sheppard is unavailable, Hilary Short (Chair) should be contacted on (01524) 63890.
Record
- It is a good idea to make notes on what has happened and who was involved as soon as possible. As far as possible, records should be written contemporaneously, dated and signed.
- Keep records about safeguarding concerns confidential and in a location where the alleged abuser will not have access to the record. Access should not be given to any unauthorised personal for accessing confidential information including the sharing of passwords.
Refer
- In making a decision whether to refer or not, the designated safeguarding lead should take into account:
  - the adult’s wishes and preferred outcome
  - whether a crime has been committed
  - the safety or wellbeing of children or other adults with care and support needs whether there is a person in a position of trust involved
  - whether the adult has mental capacity to make an informed decision about their own and others’ safety

This should inform the decision whether to notify the concern to the following people:

the police if a crime has been committed and/or
Lancashire Adult Social Care Team for possible safeguarding enquiry
The Charities commission in accordance with their guidance
family/relatives as appropriate (seek advice from adult social care)

The designated safeguarding lead should keep a record of the reasons for referring the concern or reasons for not referring.

Incidents of abuse may be one-off or multiple and may affect one person or more. Staff and volunteers should look beyond single incidents to identify patterns of harm. Accurate recording of information will also assist in recognising any patterns.

As soon as Adult Social Care or the police becomes involved, they take lead responsibility and all subsequent actions by the Fairfield Association relating to the individual involved should only be with their agreement.

What are your roles and responsibilities?

All trustees and volunteers in the Fairfield Association are expected to report any concerns to the named person for safeguarding. If the allegation is against one of the volunteers or trustees seek advice from Michael Sheppard as the safeguarding lead. If the allegation is against the safeguarding lead, seek advice from Lancashire Adult Social Care.

The designated safeguarding adults lead should be responsible for providing acknowledgement of the referral and brief feedback to the person raising the original concern. Feedback should be given in a way that will not make the situation worse or breach the Data Protection Act. If the police are involved, they should be consulted prior to giving feedback to the referrer to ensure any criminal investigation is not affected.

The local authority will decide on who will lead on a safeguarding enquiry should it progress to that stage. The named organisation should not conduct its own safeguarding enquiry unless instructed to do so by the local authority.

Volunteers and Trustees should ensure that the adult with care and support needs is involved at all stages of their safeguarding enquiry ensuring a person-centred approach is adopted.

Complaints procedure

The Fairfield Association promotes transparency and honesty when things go wrong. All trustees and volunteers should apologise and be honest with people when thing go wrong.

If a staff or volunteer or any other member of the organisation is unhappy with the Fairfield

Association’s decision about the safeguarding concern, this should be raised with the Board of Trustees.

The Fairfield Association is committed to ensuring that staff and volunteers who in good faith whistle-blow in the public interest, will be protected from reprisals and victimisation.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is to be used when decisions on behalf of those adults with care and support needs who are unable to make some decisions for themselves. Refer to the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental –capacity –act –code –of –practice . You will need to involve an advocate if the person lacks capacity to make decisions about the safeguarding concern.

Why is it important to take action?

It is may be difficult for adults with care and support needs to protect themselves and to report abuse. They rely on you to help them.

Confidentiality and information sharing

The Fairfield Association expects all staff, volunteers, trustees to maintain confidentiality at all times. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016, the Association does not share information if not required.

It should however be noted that information should be shared with authorities if an adult is deemed to be at risk of immediate harm. Sharing the right information, at the right time, with the right people can make all the difference to preventing harm.

Volunteer recruitment and selection

The Fairfield Association is committed to safe use of volunteers. All volunteers who act in a supervisory capacity to people who may be vulnerable will be subject to Disclosure and Barring checks.

Training, awareness raising and supervision?

The Fairfield Association ensures that all supervising volunteers receive basic awareness training on safeguarding adults as they may come across adults with care and support needs who may be at risk of abuse. Those adults may report things of concern to volunteers who should be equipped with the basic knowledge around safeguarding adults and be confident to identify that abuse is taking place and action is required. All volunteers should be clear about the commitment of the Fairfield Association to safeguarding adults.

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