The information in this section is for professionals who work with adults with care and support needs.
This procedure provides for the resolution of professional disagreements where an agency or professional considers that the decision made by other professionals or another agency on a safeguarding adult case is not a safe decision.
This policy provides professionals with the means to raise concerns they have about decisions made by other professionals or agencies.
The three Sussex Safeguarding Adults Boards have produced a Sussex Information Sharing Guide and Protocol, which sets out how information between partner agencies of the Boards should be shared for the purposes of safeguarding adults.
This document includes good practice guidance around record keeping and information sharing within safeguarding meetings and discussions.
An Information Sharing Guide and Protocol Learning Briefing has also been produced to provide an overview of the Protocol, practice questions for teams to consider, and links to other relevant resources. You can access the Learning Briefing via the East Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board website.
This protocol will assist professionals to decide when to refer a case for consideration at the Multi Agency Risk Management (MARM) subgroup.
To make a referral to the MARM subgroup, please complete the referral form. Please ensure that you have read the MARM Protocol before submitting your referral.
It would also be expected that you have reviewed the Thresholds Guidance Document and considered raising a safeguarding adult concern prior to making a MARM referral.
This document underpins the Pan Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures. It seeks to outline the operational framework for managing safeguarding provider concerns.
A provider concern should be triggered where there are significant safeguarding concerns or multiple Section 42 safeguarding enquiries and a wider public interest issue/possible risk to other adults. This includes all adults who are supported by the provider, irrespective of who is commissioning their care.
Read the Operational Framework for Managing Provider Concerns.
Professional curiosity is the capacity and skills of communication to explore and understand what is happening for a person rather than making assumptions or accepting things at face value. It requires skills of looking, listening, asking direct questions and being able to hold difficult conversations.
Find out more about professional curiosity in the Professional Curiosity Learning Briefing.
The Quality Assurance Framework is designed to enable the Board to fulfill its remit of ensuring local safeguarding arrangements are effective and deliver the outcomes that people want.
The Quality Assurance Framework will act as the mechanism by which the Safeguarding Adults Board will hold local agencies to account for their safeguarding work, including prevention and risk management.
This protocol will assist professionals to decide when to refer a case for consideration as a Safeguarding Adult Review, as well as providing guidance on the Safeguarding Adult Review process itself.
In the first instance, please refer to the Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) Protocol for information about the SAR process, ensuring that you pay particular attention to Appendix B, which is a Briefing Note for referrers.
If, after reading the above two documents, you would like to make a SAR referral, download the SAR Referral Form.
For public SAR referrals, please discuss with a professional or an agency involved who will support you to consider if the SAR process could be appropriate. If it is considered appropriate, the professional or agency will ensure that the SAR referral form is completed and forwarded to the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board.
If there is no agency or professional involved, please contact the Board Support Team, who will discuss and complete a referral form if appropriate:
Please note the following: if a referral is not considered appropriate for a SAR there may be another route for you to follow, for example a safeguarding referral or complaints process. If a referral does proceed, this is on the basis that it appears to meet the criteria for the consideration of a SAR.
This Safeguarding Thresholds guidance provides professionals with examples of the different categories of issues and the best course of action for non-reportable, requires consultation and reportable issues.
The Sussex Adult Death Protocol outlines the process that should be followed in responding to situations in which an unexpected adult death takes place and there is a suspicion, or it is known, that abuse or neglect by a third party directly contributed to the death. The protocol offers a robust framework for bringing together key agencies at the earliest opportunity to ensure effective collaborative working, and rapid risk assessment and information sharing.
This protocol has been developed across the Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs) and will be adopted by all partner agencies of the Sussex SABs. You can find out more about the protocol in the 7 Minute Briefing.
These procedures represent the standards for good practice in adult safeguarding in Sussex and have been endorsed by Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Boards.
Within these procedures, you will also find guidance on supporting adults who self-neglect. Find out more in the Briefing Note.