Relationships are everything

We hear frequently in the training we deliver to colleagues working across different sectors, that at times they feel frustrated with external partners because they feel that they are not listening, they are not understanding, or that they are coming over as patronising when information is shared or concerns are raised with them. 

A webinar that we ran in March 2024 on supporting third sector safeguarding referrals addressed some of these frustrations. While we recommend that you access the full webinar, the key point to take away is that if you are a Designated Safeguarding Lead within your organisation we recommend investing some time in getting to know your local safeguarding partners and building positive working relationships with them. This will help you to develop a good level of understanding of your local systems, and it will support your partners to increase their understanding of your organisation and the limits of your role and responsibilities.   

Meaningful working relationships take time to develop, however they aid joint problem solving and multi-agency risk management. We all have the same goal in safeguarding, however because our roles differ from our partners’ roles, we must work towards those goals collectively and utilise each other’s expertise.  

A good starting point would be to consider your key safeguarding contacts within your local authority. If you are not sure of what the local authority’s roles and responsibilities are in safeguarding adults and children, documents such as the ‘Care and support statutory guidance’ and ‘Working together to safeguard children 2023’ can provide helpful summaries.  

Get to know your local Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) and your Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP)

We recommend visiting your local SAB and LSCP websites which publish several useful resources such as local case reviews, annual reports and local multi-agency, escalation and professional dispute procedures. Many also offer free or affordable learning events which are likely to provide fantastic opportunities to develop relationships with partners and find out about meaningful work they do in your local area. 

Remember that not all learning opportunities come from formal training. Reading local Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SAR) and Safeguarding Children Practice Reviews (SCPR) can help you to understand how your local partners work, where local collaborative practice can be improved, and where best practice can be identified. 

Know your local policies

Once you have familiarised yourself with the contents of your local SAB or LSCP websites check how your organisational policies and procedures align with those of your partners. The national SAR analysis noted that in many cases reviewed, there were failings arising from practitioners either not being familiar with, or incorrectly applying policy and procedures.   

Information sharing

Many professionals express fear of sharing safeguarding-related information with external partners, particularly without consent, believing that this will cause a breach of law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). We would like to remind you that legislation should never be a barrier to justified information sharing. You may find this SCIE guidance useful to learn more about circumstances when information should be shared, even without consent. 

Partnership working means working together, not handing things over

Members of our team have worked closely with a variety of organisations and professionals over the years and we have often heard colleagues expressing worry about safeguarding, particularly if this was an area of practice they did not feel confident in managing as a single agency. 

It may be tempting to try and hand a concern over to another organisation as soon as it has been identified in fear of getting something wrong, however working in partnership is wider than just information sharing, it means working together continuously. 

What helps make safeguarding effective is trying to identify how your organisation may support the child, adult or family who may be subject to a concern going forward. Allied to that is considering how to make communication with other organisations involved in a timely and effective manner, to ensure successful coordination of tasks. For example, there may be benefits in providing support  jointly where needed, this could include between health and social care organisations in Integrated Care Systems (ICS). 

The strength in partnerships is our differences

When safeguarding works well, it’s because of the knowledge, skills and opportunities that each practitioner and organisation brings to the multi-agency ‘table’.  It’s the different perspectives and professional judgement that enable us to see the adult, child or family holistically and in a wider context of environment, community and culture. Good partnership working means we create an environment where everyone is listened to, everyone has a voice, and positive challenge is valued. As professionals we cannot expect ourselves to possess every piece of knowledge or be an expert in every subject in existence. It’s of critical importance for us to recognise the value of our partners and rely on their expertise to support those who come into contact with our services to the best of our ability. At times this support requires a referral or signposting to another local or national agency which can advise regarding specific subjects.  

Trying to make every effort to attend, or have your information represented at multi-agency meetings 

This piece of advice may sound very obvious, however we have consistently observed the value and importance of being involved in multi-agency meetings (e.g. MARAC or MARM). Remember that your organisation’s involvement may be crucial to a robust risk-management plan or a support plan being put in place for an individual, or a family, meaning that they receive appropriate and timely support. Every organisation holds different information about people who come into contact with it. Providing updates to partners ensures that those involved in supporting someone understand the full context of their circumstances and can make collective decisions about how to reduce risk or promote safety together.  

Valuing the differences we bring in knowledge and skills, recognising the different supports we offer, can ultimately lead to good prevention or good interventions which are in line with the person’s wishes and needs. To do that we need to value and  make the most of each other. 

If you would like more information about our safeguarding offer, or to discuss how we can help you please contact our safeguarding team. As we are not-for-profit, our consultancy and training services offer exceptional value for money, and our income goes towards improving social care.