Assurance role
The SAB must ensure it has arrangements that will enable it to carry out the duties and functions specified under the Care Act. It must have a clear, agreed understanding of the roles, responsibilities, authority and accountability of its member agencies and:
- suitable governance arrangements including an escalation process for when agreement cannot be reached between members
- an effective infrastructure
- links to other boards and partnerships
- adequate resources
- opportunities for people with care and support needs and carers to contribute to and inform its work
- person-centred, outcome-focused safeguarding arrangements and policies
- ensure that there is awareness training for all health and social care staff and police who work directly with people with care and support needs
- ensure that there is specialist training for all practitioners who have direct responsibilities for safeguarding work
- evaluate effectiveness and impact of training
- a system for agencies reporting to the board on the measures they have in place, how they are working and enable them to respond to challenge from the board
- a prevention strategy specifying each agency’s responsibilities
- links with the wider community to inform it of and receive feedback on the work of the SAB
- arrangements to monitor, evaluate and raise public awareness of adult abuse and neglect and how to respond
- arrangements to provide advice and support to other organisations to improve their safeguarding mechanisms and activity
- agreement and guidance on which types of Serious Untoward Incidents in the NHS are regularly reported to the SAB
- produce Annual Reports, detailing what the SAB and its members have achieved, including how they have contributed to the board’s objectives and what has been learned from and acted upon from the findings of Safeguarding Adults Reviews and other reviews and audits
- ensure that partner organisations have arrangements for the quality assurance of the effectiveness of their safeguarding work
- a communication strategy to manage, among other things, the SAB’s contact with other parties including the broader community and the media.
Issues to consider include how the SAB will:
- balance the competing demands of local, regional and national priorities
- manage the competing demands arising in large geographical areas
- take account of cultural diversity
- manage the interfaces with other boards and partnerships in relation to issues including self-neglect, domestic abuse and disability hate crime
- manage the use of SAB time between strategic and assurance issues
- prioritise so that the work of the board is manageable
- ensure that board members are identified to lead on specific tasks within the strategic plan
- facilitate communication between the board and people with care and support needs and carers – for example, by appointing an ‘engagement champion’
- hold agencies to account for their safeguarding work
- manage conflicts of interest.