Guidance and Resources

The 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.  The Adult Death Protocol Learning Briefing provides an overview of the protocol and has been produced as a concise guide for practitioners and managers.

To make a referral to the ADP, please complete the Adult Death Protocol Referral Form and email to the relevant Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub noted in the referral form.

The Multi-Agency Domestic Abuse Guidance has been developed to support practitioners who work with adults who are at risk of or experiencing domestic abuse. It provides a framework for a consistent and effective response to tackling this complex area of safeguarding practice.

No single agency can address all the needs of people affected by or perpetrating domestic abuse. For intervention to be effective, it is crucial that agencies work together in partnership to take timely action and adopt a shared responsibility for assessing and managing risk.

The Sussex Safeguarding Adults Escalation and Resolution Protocol  provides a process for resolving disagreements between agencies or professionals in relation to adult safeguarding.

The East Sussex SAB has developed the following multi-agency guidance and accompanying documents to support practitioners in achieving co-ordinated multi-agency responses to financial abuse and to improve engagement and achieve positive outcomes for adults who experience financial abuse.

• Multi-agency guidance for adults experiencing or at risk of financial abuse
• Financial Abuse Screening Tool

The Three Sussex SABs have produced the Safeguarding Adults Thresholds Guidance to assist practitioners and providers across all agencies in considering risk relating to potential safeguarding concerns involving adults with care and support needs.

It aims to enable safeguarding concerns to be reported when it is appropriate to do so and that they are responded to in a consistent way. It provides a framework for multi-agency partners to manage risk and to assist in identifying whether abuse and or neglect is taking place, and if a safeguarding concern needs to be referred to the local authority or whether alternative actions should be considered

The Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have produced frameworks which support consistent multi-agency practice in relation to understanding, reporting and recording of safeguarding concerns, and guidance around whether or not a reported concern requires an enquiry under the section 42 duty of the Care Act 2014.

• Understanding what constitutes a safeguarding concern.
• Making decisions on the duty to carry out safeguarding adults enquiries.

The Sussex Information Sharing Guide and Protocol  sets out how information between partner agencies of the Sussex SABs 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.

A Information Sharing Guide and Protocol Learning Briefing has been produced to provide an overview of the protocol, practice questions for teams to consider and links to other relevant resources.

Research in practice have published useful guidance on the Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court which aims to support health and social care practitioners, including those who work in adult safeguarding, to understand the circumstances in which the use of inherent jurisdiction may be appropriate.

Inherent jurisdiction describes the power that the High Court has to make orders and grant injunctions in particular situations where there is no other power to intervene in law.  Inherent jurisdiction protects adults who do not lack mental capacity, but are vulnerable because of some sort of abuse, neglect, undue influence or coercion.

The East Sussex SAB has produced Making Safeguarding Personal Guidance which includes positive case studies and links to national resources.  It also contains information for practitioners on how to respond to situations in which there are difficulties in seeing an individual alone and there is a concern or suspicion that another person may be preventing this or the adult is experiencing undue influence or coercion.

Our website also has a dedicated MSP page with further national resources and toolkits.

The East Sussex Mental Capacity Multi-Agency Policy and Procedures  have been developed to provide guidance on the understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and its application in practice across partner agencies of the SAB.

This Mental Capacity Toolkit  has been created to help support health and social care professionals working with individuals whose decision-making capacity is limited, fluctuating, absent or compromised. Demographic changes mean there are increasing numbers of people living with conditions which may impact on their decision-making capacity, and as such it is vital that professionals are confident in their understanding use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This tool brings together information from a range of professionals working in the field of mental capacity to provide a comprehensive guide to practice. It is part of a wider research project funded by the Burdett Trust for Nurses.

This Multi-agency modern slavery guidance  is intended to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking amongst partner agencies of the East Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB), and ensure that agencies can recognise modern slavery and have the confidence to report suspected cases.

It is intended to be used in conjunction with each agency’s internal pathways and procedures, and with regard to the Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures. The Care Act 2014 includes modern slavery as a type of abuse, as well as being a serious crime, therefore, managing cases of modern slavery is closely linked to safeguarding adults procedures.

You can also access our short 7 minute podcast and accompanying presentation that provides information on common issues on Modern Slavery within East Sussex and how to access guidance on reporting it.

The Multi-Agency Risk Management (MARM) Protocol has been designed to provide guidance for practitioners on working adults with multiple complex needs and managing cases in which there is a high level of risk, but the circumstances may sit outside the statutory safeguarding framework.  The MARM process aims to bring agencies together to provide a more effective, multi-agency coordinated response to facilitate:

• Timely information sharing and holistic risk assessment
• Shared decision making and responsibility for managing risk
• The identification of a clear lead agency or practitioner
• Improved involvement and engagement with adults, which leads to improved outcomes.

Supplementary guidance has been produced to support professionals in identifying, assessing and supporting people with multiple complex needs:

•  Assessing and supporting people with multiple and complex needs: Guidance for positive practice

The MARM Protocol and supplementary guidance above should be read in conjunction with the Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures as well as the and the .

To make a referral to the MARM Group please complete the Multi-Agency Risk Management (MARM) Group Referral Form and also ensure a risk assessment is submitted with the referral.  Referrals should be sent by secure email to MARM@eastsussex.gov.uk

The Partnership Protocol 2022 - 24 sets out the commitment across the strategic partnership boards in East Sussex, including the Safeguarding Adults Board, the Safeguarding Children Partnership, the Safer Communities Partnership, the Children and Young Peoples Trust and the Health and Wellbeing Board.   These partnerships are committed to ensuring that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and to working together at every level to keep people in East Sussex safe from harm and abuse, and to improve health and wellbeing.

The Sussex Multi-Agency Procedures to Support Adults who Self-Neglect are contained within the Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures.

The procedures take account of learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) involving cases of self-neglect and sets out a framework for collaborate partnership working when supporting adults who are experiencing self-neglect.

The SAB has developed two learning briefings which focus on self-neglect:

• A Self-Neglect Learning Briefing was developed following the publication of the Adult A SAR and provides an overview of self-neglect, how to raise concerns and how to manage complex cases and ensure effective multi-agency responses.
• This Self-Neglect Audit Learning Briefing summarises the findings and learning outcomes of an audit exploring multi-agency responses to self-neglect.

The Brighton & Hove and East Sussex Safeguarding Adults Boards have worked with a range of partner agencies across both the statutory and non-statutory sectors to develop an updated and expanded multi-agency Responding to Hoarding Behaviour Framework that replaces the previous multi-agency Hoarding Framework.

This updated framework is not intended to place requirements on organisations. It provides guidance that promotes a person-centred and strengths-based approach in responding to hoarding behaviour and ensuring the person’s views and preferred outcomes are central throughout. It encourages professionals to consider a range of potential steps and actions, along with useful resources, and includes key legislation and pan-Sussex SAB protocols.

The framework is in three separate parts:

• Practitioner Guidance
• Practitioner Resources
• Contact Information, Further Reading and Legislation

Safeguarding information for Host Families – The following guidance has been put together to help you know what action to take if you are worried about an adult or child during their stay with you.

Incidents between adults in a service can include any interaction between two or more adults in any setting. It can involve physical, psychological, or emotional, sexual, financial, or discriminatory abuse or behaviour, which results in the risk of harm, or actual harm.

This local guidance: Responding to Incidents of Harm between Adults at Risk in a Provider Setting  provides advice on:

• Provider responsibilities
• Actions that can be taken to support and protect both the adult at risk and the alleged person thought to be the cause of risk
• Preventing incidents between adults at risk
• When to raise a safeguarding concern and report a possible crime
• How the Local Authority will respond when a safeguarding concern is raised with them