Section 44 of the Care Act 2014 places a duty on local Safeguarding Adults Boards to arrange Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs).
(SARs) help agencies to learn lessons from cases where abuse or neglect is suspected to be a factor in the death or serious harm of an adult with care and support needs. The aim must be to learn from past experience, improve future practice and multi-agency working. It is not the role of Safeguarding Adult Reviews to apportion blame, that is for the courts or other arenas.
The Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board must arrange a review of any case where an adult, in its area, with needs for care and support, (whether or not the local authority was meeting any of those needs):
- dies as a result of abuse or neglect, whether known or suspected, and there is concern that partner agencies could have worked more effectively to protect the adult; OR
- if an adult in its area has not died, but the Board knows or suspects that the adult has experienced serious abuse or neglect and there is concern that partner agencies could have worked more effectively to protect the adult.
There may be circumstances where the above criteria have not been fully met but it is felt that a review of the case would be beneficial. SAR’s can also be used to explore examples of good practice where it is likely that lessons can be applied to future cases. These are decisions for the Safeguarding Adults Review Committee.
Safeguarding Adults Review reports
Adult N
In October 2022, the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) published a Safeguarding Adults Review in relation to Adult N. The Safeguarding Adults Review report is published alongside a practitioner briefing:
The NSAB also published a statement in response to the publication of the Safeguarding Adults Review.
Adult L
In May 2022, the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) published a Safeguarding Adults Review in relation to Adult L. The Safeguarding Adults Review report is published alongside a number of other resources:
The NSAB also published a statement in response to the publication of the Safeguarding Adults Review.
Joint Serious Case Review (Sexual Exploitation)
In February 2018 the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) and the Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB) published a Joint Serious Case Review to consider and learn from sexual exploitation involving children and young adults in Newcastle. The Joint Serious Case Review fulfils the NSAB’s duty under the Care Act (2014) to undertake Safeguarding Adults Reviews. The report contains a number of local and national recommendations.
Some of the key learning points which have already been carefully considered include:
- the complex nature of sexual exploitation;
- the extreme and long lasting impact it has on victims;
- that sexual exploitation happens to adults as well as children;
- and difficulties in identifying and preventing exploitation.
Working with victims has reinforced the importance of intense and long-term support required to gain their trust and also to help them understand their experience and so enable them to talk about this. The primary aim has and continues to be to support and protect victims from further exploitation and to help them so far as possible to rebuild positive lives. You can download an Easy Read Version of the Joint Serious Case Review here.
Find out more about what has been done since the publication of the report to address the recommendations.
Lee Irving
A decision was made by the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) to undertake a Safeguarding Adults Review on 25 August 2015 following the death of Lee Irving in June 2015. You can read the Overview Report and a summary of the key findings from the report.
You can also download an Easy Read Version of the Lee Irving Report here.
Other reviews
Preventing Fire Deaths
An increased awareness around referrals to the Fire Service were recommendations in a number of
recent SARs regionally, including the NSAB’s Adult N SAR. Tyne and Wear has also seen a spike in fire deaths in 2022/23, many with similar contributing factors. The majority of people who die or are seriously injured in domestic fires have common vulnerabilities and are known to public service agencies. Some of the most vulnerable people in our society are still dying from fires in places where they should be safe. Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service have produced a 7-minute briefing highlighting some of the key things that can be done to prevent fire deaths.
Self Neglect Thematic Review
Covid-19 and the associated restrictions were felt to have impacted upon the increasing number and the complexity of safeguarding concerns involving self-neglect that were being reported in Newcastle. As well as safeguarding concerns there have been a high number of referrals into the Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) Committee (in Newcastle and across the North East Region) involving self-neglect
As a result, the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) wanted to try and further understand practitioner experiences of self-neglect in order to make improvements to policy, guidance and training in this area. The NSAB’s SAR Committee gathered practitioner views in two ways: via an online survey and a workshop. A report has been produced, summarising the findings from both, including a number of recommendations which were accepted by the NSAB in November 2022.
Adult M
Adult M was 72 years old when she died. The case involves concerns about self-neglect. This case did not meet the criteria for a Safeguarding Adults Review but it was still felt that a review of the case would be helpful. The NSAB arranged a multi-agency review of Adult M’s case to identify what worked well and what we might do differently in the future. You can read our seven-minute briefing which highlights the key learning from the case.