Agenda item

The Sub-Committee is asked to consider the Croydon Safeguarding Adult Board – Annual Report 2018-2019.

The Sub-Committee considered the Annual Report for 2018-19 from the Croydon Safeguarding Adults Board (CSAB). The independent Chair of the board, Annie Callanan was in attendance at the meeting to introduce the report and answer Members questions arising. During the introduction to the report the following points were noted:-

·         An increased amount of information had been added to the report for 2018-19 as a result of a request from the Sub-Committee for further information last year. 

·         The report recognised that there had been a high level of engagement and support from partners for the CSAB. The CSAB has been engaged with ongoing work on early intervention and commissioning.

·         There was still work needed to improve the voice of Croydon residents, particularly those from minority ethnic communities, which was being worked upon.

·         A key aim was to ensure that the individual was the focus at the centre of services.

·         The object of the exercise was to get a line of sight to understand what was happening at the frontline of the service. The CSAB was not currently achieving this, but was looking to use the expertise of their four newly formed Sub-Groups to deliver this.

Following the introduction from the Independent Chair of the CSAB the Sub-Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions about the report. The first requested a self-assessment of the current performance of the Board. In response it was advised that the accountability arrangements were in a much better place with continual improvement being seen. A strength of the current CSAB was having everybody around the table engaged in the process.

In response to a question about how the CSAB compared to other Boards, it was highlighted that Croydon operated similarly to other areas. An invitation was extended to the members of the Sub-Committee to attend a future CSAB meeting as observers.

It was highlighted that 70% more females reported abuse than males, when the number of vulnerable males was not much lower, as such there reasons for this were questioned. It was advised that steps were being taken to investigate the reasons for this including engaging with men to get a representative view. Reasons such as generational differences causing a reluctance to communicate and the fear of care being removed may be possible reasons that needed to be explored in greater detail.

It was noted that it would help the Sub-Committee to be able to make a judgement on the performance of the CASB if comparative data with other boroughs was available. It was confirmed that data was available, with an annual report due to be published in November that could be shared with the Sub-Committee. 

In response to a question about the challenges of sharing reporting data it was advised that it was essential for the Board to be kept informed and it had been highlighted that certain information was required for specific Sub-Groups.

The level of referrals made to the low number that were sustained was questioned, with it advised that there was a preference for people to be engaged. There was a move across the sector to work with partners on what a good referral was, as if there were huge numbers it required careful consideration to identify the most serious cases.

It was questioned what the Board could do to ensure that the voice of vulnerable adults was heard. It was advised that it was important to raise awareness of the Board with residents with a week of engagement activity planned. Capturing the voice of vulnerable patients should start at the point of referral with work needed to understand how views could be captured at this stage. It was important that the work of CSAB was led by customers throughout the process.

At the close of the item the Chair thanked the Independent Chair of the Board for attending the meeting, welcoming the progress that had been made over the past year.

Info Requests

1.    The Annual Report due for publication in November 2019, to provide the Sub-Committee with comparison data with other boroughs.

Conclusions

At the conclusion of this item the Sub-Committee reached the following conclusions:-

1.    The progress made since the previous report from the Croydon Safeguarding Adults Board a year ago was welcomed.

2.    The invitation to visit a meeting of the Croydon Safeguarding Adults Board was welcomed with the Committee looking forward to taking up the opportunity.