Agenda and minutes

To approve the record of the meeting held on 15 July 2010.

The record of the meeting held on 15 July 2010 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Murray and Mason and Marion Dinwoodie, Chief Executive, NHS Medway.

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

The Chairman stated that there was no urgent business but he welcomed Councillor Stamp to his first meeting of the Committee. 

(a)               Personal interests under the Medway Code of Conduct.

A Councillor who declares a personal interest in a matter, including the nature of the interest, may stay, speak, and vote on the matter.

(b)               Prejudicial interests under the Medway Code of Conduct.

A Councillor who declares a personal and prejudicial interest in a matter, including the nature of the interest, must withdraw from the room and take no part in the debate or vote on the matter.

Councillors who have declared a personal and prejudicial interest may make representations, answer questions and give evidence before leaving the room but only if members of the public are allowed to attend for the same purpose.

If an interest is not declared at the outset of the meeting, it should be disclosed as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

(c)               Whipping – the Council’s constitution also requires any Member of the Committee who is subject to a party whip (ie agreeing to vote in line with the majority view of a private party group meeting) to declare the existence of the whip and the nature of it before the item is discussed.

Shirley Griffiths, LINk Co-ordinator, declared a personal interest in any discussion that may take place during the course of the meeting with reference to Medway NHS Foundation Trust, South East Coast Ambulance Trust, Medway Older People’s Board and GP Patient Forum by virtue of being a member of those bodies.

Councillor Sheila Kearney declared a personal interest by virtue in any discussion that may take place during the course of the meeting with reference to Medway NHS Foundation Trust and South East Coast Ambulance Trust by virtue of being a member of those bodies.

This report sets out details of written evidence received in respect of safeguarding vulnerable adults. 

The order of business has been agreed (at the last meeting) as follows:

1.                  The Chairman to welcome everyone to the meeting and go through the usual business of the meeting

2.                  The following should be invited to respond to the issues raised in the attached report:

Barbara Bradley, Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Board Manager

Susan Roots, Lead for Safeguarding Adults, NHS Medway

Sallyann Larkin, Safeguarding Adults Co-ordinator

3.                  Responses from Marion Dinwoodie, Chief Executive, NHS Medway and David Quirke-Thornton, Assistant Director, Adult Social Care/Rose Collinson, Director of Children and Adults

4.                  The meeting will then be open for Member questions and debate

5.                  Unless there are specific recommendations which the Committee wish to make from the meeting there will be a meeting of the task group arranged to form recommendations to be put to 30 September 2010 meeting of the Committee.

The Kent and Medway Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Board Manager introduced the discussion by explaining her position as manager of a small multi-agency safeguarding vulnerable adults team, which is funded by key agencies across Kent and Medway and accountable to those funding partners.  These included Medway Council, Kent Adult Social Services, Kent Police and the three NHS Trusts in Medway, East and West Kent.  The role of the multi agency team is to:

• Service the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Executive Board, Executive Team, the Network, Policy, Protocols and Guidance Review Group, Training Group and Serious Case Review Panels
• Effectively co-ordinate the work of all these groups
• Regularly report to the Executive Board and Executive Team and other partner meetings
• Ensure effective communication of the work of the various groups
• Design, deliver and evaluate multi-agency safeguarding training
• Manage the multi-agency budget

A review of the multi-agency governance arrangements had been undertaken resulting in clearer terms of reference for all groups to ensure that each group was more focussed on outcomes and sure of its responsibilities.  The importance of strengthening multi-agency working was also stressed.

Medway Council’s Safeguarding Adults Co-ordinator then gave a short introduction to her role and highlighted the importance of the Committee setting up a themed meeting on the topic of safeguarding adults.  She emphasised that the protection of Medway’s most vulnerable citizens was everyone’s responsibility and that this theme was echoed in a recent multi-agency public awareness campaign. 

Members were advised that 2-4% of Medway’s older population were likely to have suffered neglect at the hands of their family in the last year according to recent research, this equated to approximately 1,500 older people in Medway.

Ahead of an anticipated Care Quality Commission inspection later in the year preparation was underway to ensure that evidence of best practice could be demonstrated.  The key message was to look at what currently worked well and how this could be developed although there was a place for reviewing lessons learnt following audits and serious case reviews.

The Lead for Safeguarding Adults, NHS Medway then gave an introduction to the work NHS Medway was involved in regarding safeguarding vulnerable adults.  She informed Members that NHS Medway was committed to safeguarding adults and set out ways it used to monitor its main providers to obtain assurance that a range of safeguarding strategies were in place to prevent abuse.

There had been a sustained investment by the health sector over the last three years to safeguarding adults and all statutory health organisations now had a designated Safeguarding Adult and Mental Capacity Act lead person.

The Committee were informed of extensive training programmes in place for both safeguarding adults and Mental Capacity Act and the fact that this training was part of the mandatory corporate induction for new members of staff.

As a result of this training there had been more referrals with the outcome of more patients being safeguarded from harm.

It was stated that NHS Medway had a statutory responsibility under the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 258.