West Sussex Launches More Than 3,000 Safeguarding Investigations

Neglect and abuse of vulnerable adults in West Sussex has led to more than 3,000 inquiries being launched by the county council’s safeguarding hub.

The figures, which were reported to a meeting of the cabinet, showed that the number of concerns raised with the hub had fallen while the number of inquiries had risen.

In 2019/20, 8,266 concerns about abuse were received compared to 10,595 the year before, with 3,489 inquiries launched compared to 3,395 the year before.

The most common concern centred around neglect, followed by physical, financial, psychological and sexual abuse.

The majority – more than 1,700 – involved people in care homes.

Dr James Walsh (Lib Dem, Littlehampton East) called the care home figures ‘shocking’ and ‘really quite worrying’.

He added:

“I think these are likely to be hugely increased by the Covid-19 emergency.

“I would like to see an earlier, fuller and more comprehensive report, as soon as it can be managed, on the outcomes of the Covid-19 emergency on safeguarding of adults in our care and nursing home sector across West Sussex.”

Annie Callanan, independent chairman of the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board, told the meeting the rise in inquiries was not necessarily something to be worried about.

Updated guidance issued to healthcare professionals meant they had a better idea of when to approach the hub with their concerns and when to look for support elsewhere.

This led to a drop in the number of reports simply because only the more serious ‘appropriate’ issues were being raised with the hub and it was no longer inundated with other problems.

Ms Callanan also told the meeting that West Sussex had one of the highest number of care home beds in the country and this, along with a heightened awareness among staff, accounted for the high figures.

Amanda Jupp, cabinet member for adults and health, described the progress made by the board in raising awareness of safeguarding issues as ‘extraordinary’.

She added:

“Safeguarding is an issue that everyone should be aware of and we should congratulate [the team] for making many more people aware of safeguarding and thus increasing the number of concerns.

“But I don’t see that as a bad thing either. I think it’s important that we should know about these concerns so that they can be properly investigated.”

(by Karen Dunn, Local Democracy Reporter)

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