Taking learnings from Safeguarding Adult Reviews
About Safeguarding Adult Reviews
The Care Act 2014 introduced the requirement for Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs). This places a duty on Safeguarding Adult Boards (SABs) to arrange a SAR when:
The case involves an adult with care and support needs (whether or not the local authority was meeting those needs). There is reasonable cause for concern about how the safeguarding Adults Board, its members or organisations worked together to safeguard the adult.
A SAR is conducted if:
- the adult died (including death by suicide) and the SAB knows or suspects this resulted from abuse or neglect (whether or not it knew about this before the adult died) or,
- the adult is still alive but the SAB knows or suspects they have experienced serious abuse or neglect, sustained potentially life threatening injury, serious sexual abuse or serious impairment of health or development. a result of abuse or neglect
The purpose of a SAR is to establish whether there are any lessons to be learnt from the circumstances of the case, about the way in which local professionals/practitioners and agencies worked together.
Find our learning review reports
Find out more about the process of SAR
For more in depth guidance on the process of SAR, read Safeguarding Adults Board Safeguarding Adults Reviews Guidance.
Practitioner learning event
Such cases are always very sad and worrying for all concerned and this information sheet helps to explain the role of practitioner’s attending a learning event as part of the review process.
As part of a SAR the Review Panel may recommend that a Practitioner Learning Event is held. All front-line Practitioners who had involvement with the adult and/or their family will be invited to attend. Practitioners can attend with line managers for support if required.
The key aim of the Practitioner Learning Event is to collaborate with all the practitioners from all the different agencies who knew the adult and their family providing the time and safe space to reflect on your involvement, professional practice and decision making at the time.
The information collated at the Practitioner Learning Event enables the Reviewer to understand in greater depth whether there are any lessons that can be learnt to improve practice in the future and it also enables good practice to be identified and shared.
It is important to stress that the review process is not designed to apportion blame, but to try and understand what happened and the wide range of factors or barriers that affected the way people responded to the circumstances of the case at the time and will also identify good practice.
What a learning event provides
The Practitioner Learning Event will:
- hear your first-hand accounts of involvement with the adult and their family
- provide an opportunity to ensure the accuracy of the case ‘story’ gathered through chronologies and agency reports
- provide an opportunity to consider and analyse interventions in a safe, reflective environment
- consider the context within which practitioners were working at the time
- explore what information, activity, barriers or circumstances might have influenced decision making at the time
- consider and contribute to the recommendations for the SAR
- provide an opportunity for practitioners to shape future policy and practice
What the event doesn't provide
The Practitioner Learning Event will not:
- attempt to apportioned blame
- single out individual practitioners
- be critical of specific agencies
How the event is run
The event will be facilitated by the Reviewer appointed to undertake the review which has been commissioned by Cumbria Safeguarding Adult Board (CSAB); and the event will be facilitated and supported by members of the CSAB Secretariat.
Contact details for the CSAB Secretariat and the Review Panel representatives will be provided in advance. The Review Panel representatives will provide support to practitioners in advance of a Learning Event and any de-brief or support required post event.
Find out about forthcoming CSAB learning events
We post our events on Eventbrite.
Contact us for further information
If you feel you need further information about SARs or work of Cumbria Safeguarding Adults Board (CSAB), then contact us by email.
Email: csab@cumberland.gov.uk