Our practitioners have backgrounds such as District Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, and social work and as such can provide advice and expertise on wide ranging safeguarding concerns.

We provide support via our Trust Wide Safeguarding Duty Hub where you can access instant safeguarding advice, support and case consultation.

The safeguarding adults teams also offer Safeguarding Supervision, if you would like to arrange supervision email safeguardingadults.supervision@merseycare.nhs.uk and they can make arrangements with you.

We also offer training, this is in form of the modular training packages that we update and change each year. We can also support your teams with specific training needs you identify within your service. 

 

The Care Act 2014 put Safeguarding Adults on a statutory footing. s42 Enquiry by local authority

(1)This section applies where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in its area (whether or not ordinarily resident there)
(a)has needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs),
(b)is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and
(c)as a result of those needs is unable to protect himself or herself against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.

(2)The local authority must make (or cause to be made) whatever enquiries it thinks necessary to enable it to decide whether any action should be taken in the adult’s case (whether under this Part or otherwise) and, if so, what and by whom.

What does ‘needs for care and support’ mean?

If the adult has any physical or mental impairment or illness and as a result of this or related to this a need arises in two or more of the following domains and it would have significant impact on their wellbeing, then they have needs for care and support:

  • Managing and maintaining nutrition;
  • Maintaining personal hygiene;
  • Managing toilet needs;
  • Being appropriately clothed;
  • Being able to make use of the adult’s home safely;
  • Maintaining a habitable home environment;
  • Developing and maintaining family or other personal relationships;
  • Accessing and engaging in work, training, education or volunteering;
  • Making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community including public transport, and recreational facilities or services; and
  • Carrying out any caring responsibilities the adult has for a child.

It is a Care Act 2014 needs assessment that determine whether a person has care and support needs, however, if we reasonably believe that the person has care and support needs and we are concerned that they are being abused or neglected then we should consider making a referral to the Local Authority for consideration of s42 enquiry.

When we are dealing with a concern around any type of abuse and neglect it is essential that we consider whether the person has care and support needs, as this will inform our responsibilities and actions we need to take.

Chapter 14 Care and Support Statutory Guidance set out that Workers across a wide range of organisations need to be vigilant about adult safeguarding concerns in all walks of life including, amongst others in health and social care, welfare, policing, banking, fire and rescue services and trading standards; leisure services, faith groups, and housing. GPs, in particular, are often well-placed to notice changes in an adult that may indicate they are being abused or neglected. Findings from serious case reviews have sometimes stated that if professionals or other staff had acted upon their concerns or sought more information, then death or serious harm might have been prevented.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and it is important that you know the different abuse types and understand what your responsibility is to respond to safeguarding concerns. Please ensure that you have read the SD17 Policy, and that your mandatory training is completed.  

If you are concerned for an adult and you want to talk this through with someone, please contact Trust Wide Safeguarding Duty Hub for case consultation, advice, and support.

Some service users/patients will not have Care & Support Needs as set out in Care Act 2014, this does not mean that we do not need to do anything about the abuse or neglect they are at risk of or subjected to. Actions to take could include reporting a crime to the Police, report to Local Authority Quality/Commissioning Team, Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment, Referral to MARAC, referral to IDVA or sexual abuse services to name a few.

For safeguarding record keeping guidance please refer to:

Safeguarding Record Keeping Handbook - EMIS 

Safeguarding Record Keeping Handbook - RIO and IAPTUS

The Safeguarding Adults Service consist of three Safeguarding Adults Teams

Mental Health Care Division Knowsley, St Helens, Halton and Warrington
Hanna Roslund, Named Professional Safeguarding Adults
Sophie Smith, Specialist Lead

Mental Health Care Division Liverpool and Sefton
Carla Whittaker, Named Nurse Safeguarding Adults
Nick Woods, Specialist Lead
Alex Hayden, Specialist Lead

Community Care Division
Leigh Tindsley, Adult Safeguarding Lead
Margy Green, Safeguarding Adults Specialist Nurse
Hannah Molyneux, Safeguarding Adults Specialist Nurse
Jenny Tennant, Safeguarding Adults Specialist Nurse
Angela Tyrer, Safeguarding Adults Specialist Nurse