In this section, you will find links to the North Lincolnshire Multi-Agency Safeguarding Adults Board Policies and Guidance. You will also find national guidance and local resources to support effective safeguarding practice.
Safeguarding Adults Board
The Safeguarding Adults Board Strategic Plan 2023 / 2025 lays out our shared goals and vision over the next three years. It covers how the Board will focus on the prevention of abuse and neglect as well as making sure that organisations work together to keep people safe when abuse has occurred; giving people choice, control and involvement. It emphasises our focus on the underlying principles of ‘making safeguarding personal’.
North Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board members produced a Partnership Agreement, which was signed by each partner’s Organisational Lead.
To view all related Safeguarding Adults Board documents click on the tabs below.
- North Lincolnshire Multi-Agency – Policy & Procedure is a multi-agency document endorsed by the Safeguarding Adults Board and is for use by professionals within Adult Social Care.
- Managing Allegations Against People in A Position of Trust (PiPoT) – This guidance provides a framework for managing cases where allegations have been made against a person in a position of trust (PiPoT) and is focussed on the management of risk. It provides guidance to ensure appropriate actions are taken to manage allegations against people who work, either in a paid or unpaid capacity, with adults with care and support needs. A Guide for professionals PiPoT
- Organisational Abuse Policy and Procedure – Multi Agency Safeguarding Adults Board. This policy and procedure apply to all care and support provision, whether directly commissioned or not by a local authority; North Lincolnshire Health and Care Partnership (NLHCP) or NHS England/Improvement (NHS E/I); and irrespective of whether or not it is included in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) market oversight regime. This includes care which is paid for by individuals themselves as the same duty applies to people funding their own care as to care which is commissioned or purchased by the local authority and/or the NHS. Services managed by the local authority or NHS are subject to the same level of scrutiny as independent care providers.
- Scrutiny And Assurance Framework – The North Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board Scrutiny and Assurance Framework has been developed to create an environment that is conducive to robust scrutiny and constructive challenge. The arrangements include opportunities to work in partnership to learn and improve practice across the multi-agency adult safeguarding system.
- Vulnerable Adults Risk Management (VARM) Policy & Guidance. The VARM process provides a framework for professionals to facilitate effective multi-agency working with adults at risk (adults with care and support needs, whether these are being met or not) 18 or over who are deemed to have mental capacity to make decisions and who are at risk of serious harm or risk of death through self-neglect, refusal of services and/or high levels of risk-taking activity. To make a referral please complete this online form. VARM leaflet ‘What to Expect’ when attending a VARM
- Multi-Agency Forensic Examiner Policy – The policy covers the pilot of a Forensic Exanimation of Adults service across North Lincolnshire (NL) and East Riding of Yorkshire (ERY) Safeguarding Partnerships. The purpose of the policy is to provide an outline of the process that will be undertaken in relation to the consideration of, examination and reporting when adults at risk of harm have sustained an injury as a result of physical abuse or neglect and outline the governance framework that supports this pilot.
- Female Genital Mutilation Identifying and responding to concerns – This guidance and procedure explains the duties and actions to be taken regarding recognising and responding to children who are at risk of/who may have suffered FGM, and is for professionals to help them identify and respond to concerns or disclosures about FGM.
- Hoarding Protocol Humberside Safeguarding Adults Boards. This guidance aims to provide information on managing harm around hoarding issues only.
Mental Capacity Act
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is a law that protects and supports people who do not have the ability to make decisions for themselves. It also provides guidance to support people who need to make decisions on behalf of someone else.
The Act covers important decisions relating to an individual’s property, health and social care and financial affairs. The Act also applies to everyday decisions, such as personal care, what to eat and what to wear. It also allows us to plan ahead for a time when we are not able to make decisions for ourselves.
We all can have problems making decisions at some time, but the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is more than that. It is there for situations where someone is unable to make a decision because of the way their brain works, for example, it might be due to illness, a brain injury, a disability or because of the effects of drugs or alcohol.
In law a person is said to lack capacity if they cannot do one or more of the following things.
- Understand the information given to them
- Retain the information for long enough to make a decision
- Weight up all the information available to make a decision
- Communicate their decision
Someone might have capacity to make decisions about some things and not others. For example, they might be able to make a decision about what they would like to eat and wear but not about where they would like to live. If the person lacks mental capacity to make a specific decision, then it must be made in their ‘best interests’ taking into account the persons wishes, feelings, beliefs and values.
Here professionals can access a handy Mental Capacity Prompt to use when assessing capacity, you can also access the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
Other useful documents and links:
- Mencap – mental-capacity-act
- North Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board – Capacity to consent to sexual relations
- Independent Advocacy – POhWER independent advocacy provider
Mental Health Act 1983
When it applies:
In most cases when people are treated in hospital or another mental health facility, they have agreed or volunteered to be there. You may be referred to as a voluntary patient.
But there are cases when a person can be detained, also known as sectioned, under the Mental Health Act (1983) and treated without their agreement. The Act:
- Is the main piece of legislation that covers the assessment, treatment, and rights of people with a mental health disorder.
- means people detained under the Mental Health Act need urgent treatment for a mental health disorder such as depression or bipolar and are at risk of harm to themselves or others.
- ensures that if a person is detained under this act, the health professionals must follow this act when making decisions for the person.
The term “mental health disorder” is used to describe people who have:
- a mental illness
- a learning disability
- a personality disorders
Conditions for sectioning under the Mental Health Act 1983
- The person must be assessed, or being treated, for a mental health problem
- Their health would be at risk of getting worse if the treatment was not given
- The safety of the person and / or others would be at risk if treatment was not given
- A doctor thinks an assessment is needed for treatment in hospital
The team in charge of the persons treatment can’t give their family information about them without asking the person first. The person can choose what the professionals share. This is called giving consent.
Key facts
- Normally the people involved in the care will not share information unless people say they can
- There are times they can share some things without the person saying they can
- The person can also have / speak to an Independent Mental Health Advocate
It is important to remember…
The person should be fully involved in decisions about their care, support, and treatment. That includes how information about them is shared.
Other useful documents and links:
- Mencap – Mental Health Act
- Independent Advocacy – POhWER independent advocacy provider
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLs)
The DoLS are part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They aim to make sure that people in care homes and hospitals are looked after in a way that does not inappropriately restrict their freedom.
The safeguards set out a process that hospitals and care homes must follow if they believe it is in a person’s best interests to deprive them of their liberty, in order to provide their care plan. The department of health issued this guide DHguide_for_relevant_representatives