Safeguarding means looking out for and trying to protect others in our community who are vulnerable, or may be at risk of harm. If you think that someone is at risk, you need to raise an alarm; safeguarding is everyone's business.
The Safeguarding Adults Board is a group of organisations which meet together to discuss and monitor how to protect vulnerable people with the view to keeping them safe.
Who sits on the Safeguarding board?
The board requires attendance from three organisations – Blackpool Council, local clinical commissioning groups, and the police.
Other organisations are also invited, such as:
- Lancashire Care Foundation Trust
- Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service
- Public health
- Local advocacy services
- NHS England
- Probation
- Blackpool Coastal Housing
Board members make arrangements within and across their organisations, to ensure that adults in Blackpool are protected from harm as effectively as possible.
These meetings are chaired by an independent person. The board is supported by a business development manager and administrator and the team is hosted by Blackpool Council.
What do they discuss?
The organisations meet together to discuss how all of the agencies involved can work together to protect Adults who are seen as vulnerable or ‘at risk’.
The safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
- Has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs)
- Is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect
- As a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect
What do they do?
The board makes sure that all of the agencies involved have effective safeguarding policies and procedures and make sure that organisations work together in the best way possible in order to protect adults who may be at risk.
The board can request a serious case review to be undertaken, where there are concerns about serious abuse or neglect, or someone has died as a result of serious abuse or neglect.
The board produces an annual report detailing the work it has done.
How do I share concerns about an adult at risk?
Pan Lancashire and Cumbria multi agency safeguarding procedures
The Pan Lancashire and Cumbria Safeguarding Adults Partnership have launched a multi-agency safeguarding manual.
The manual is for the whole adult workforce and aims to promote multi-agency working and provide information about safeguarding adults ‘at risk’ of abuse and neglect.
This online manual provides access to a shared approach to adult safeguarding across the four areas, including consistent language and commonly used terms.
Please note, this is separate from any single agency/internal procedures you may need to refer to.