South Tyneside Safeguarding Adults Board

The South Tyneside Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) is a multiagency partnership dedicated to protecting adults at risk from abuse, neglect and exploitation. We bring together key partners to ensure a coordinated and effective safeguarding response.

We have an independent chair, Steve Chapman:

"As the independent chair of the South Tyneside Safeguarding Adults Board, my role is to provide oversight, challenge and leadership to ensure safeguarding remains a priority for all our partners.

We are committed to ensuring that safeguarding is not just about responding to incidents but also about prevention, empowerment and continuous learning. By listening to individuals, carers and professionals we can drive improvements and make safeguarding truly personal in South Tyneside.

I encourage everyone, whether professionals, carers or members of the community- to engage with our work. As chair of the SAB, I am keen to ensure that people who live and work locally in South Tyneside are clear about our vision and the important role the SAB has to play in supporting an effective partnership response to abuse and neglect.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. By helping people to understand what abuse and neglect is, how to report concerns and what steps agencies will take to respond to these concerns we aim to build resilience and empower our communities."

Safeguarding Adults means protecting an adult's right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

It is about working together to support people to make decisions about the risks they face in their own lives and protecting those who lack the mental capacity to make these decisions.

What we do

As a Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB), we work together to safeguard any adult that is at risk of harm or abuse, as defined in legislation and guidance.

The risk of abuse can increase through:

• age
• disability
• ill health
• an individual's personal characteristics
• additional vulnerabilities
• life circumstances

We want to prevent and reduce these whilst supporting individuals to take and maintain control over their lives.

The SAB leads this work across multi-agency organisations, and is focussed on ensuring that it is effectively co-ordinated to safeguard and promote the welfare and protection of those adults who may be at risk of abuse and harm.

The SAB is a statutory body which Local Authorities are responsible for establishing.

The Care Act 2014 specifies that there must be three core statutory members:

• the Local Authority
• NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB)
• Northumbria Police

The Care Act allows for further members to be specified in future.

For the SAB to fulfil its responsibilities and duties effectively, additional partners are included. These are:

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust

National Probation Service

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

South Tyneside Community Safety Partnership 

South Tyneside Council, Public Health

South Tyneside Council Housing Services

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Voluntary Sector

Healthwatch

Your Voice Counts

Lay Member - Paul Freeman

Our vision is for all partners to work together effectively to enable and empower people in South Tyneside to be free and safe from abuse and neglect.

This strategy aligns with the South Tyneside 20 year vision - "A place where people live healthy, happy, and fulfilled lives".

The strategy outlines how the Safeguarding Adults Board will help people to be able to live as safely and independently as possible, making their own decisions, taking control of their lives, and where the local communities:

• Have a culture that does not tolerate abuse
• Work together to prevent harm
• Know what to do when abuse happens

To achieve this vision, we will:

• Actively promote collaboration and commitment
• Work together on prevention strategies
• Listen to the voice of people to deliver positive outcomes

The key role for the SAB is to hold all agencies / members to account if this vision is not being realised.

Our priorities are:

• Delivering effective safeguarding
  Ensuring that safeguarding practices across all agencies are robust, responsive, and make a real difference in protecting adults at risk.
• Making safeguarding personal
  Putting individuals at the heart of safeguarding in a person-centred approach, ensuring they have a voice, options, control and the right support to live safely and independently.
• Learning and delivering
  Continuously strengthening safeguarding practice by learning from experiences, Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SAR's), national learning and best practice.

We have six safeguarding principles:

1. Empowerment
   People being supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent. "I am asked what I want as the outcomes from the safeguarding process, and these directly inform what happens."
2. Prevention
   It is better to act before harm occurs. "I receive clear and simple information about what abuse is, how to recognise the signs and what I can do to seek help."
3. Proportionality
   The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented. "I am sure that the professionals will work in my interest, as I see them, and they will only get involved as much as needed."
4. Protection
   Support and representation for those in greatest need. "I get help and support to report abuse and neglect. I get help so that I am able to take part in the safeguarding process to the extent to which I want."
5. Partnership
   Local solutions through services working with their communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing, detecting, and reporting neglect and abuse. "I know that staff treat any personal and sensitive information in confidence, only sharing what is helpful and necessary. I am confident that professionals will work together and with me to get the best result for me."
6. Accountability
   Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding. "I understand the role of everyone involved in my life and so do they."

These principles influence the delivery of our vision.