Information Governance Office
Maudsley Hospital
Denmark Hill
London
SE5 8AZ
Email:
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
5th October 2018
Dear Mr Gasson,
RE: Your Information Request
Thank you for your request for information received on 10th September 2018 regarding adult
safeguarding concerns under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (2000).
You requested the following:
1(1) How do you ensure the person helping them investigate that has the integrity to make that an
independent, fair and robust process?
Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 places a duty on the local authority to make enquiries or cause
others to do so if there are concerns that an adult is at risk of abuse or neglect and they are unable
to protect themselves. The local authority has overall responsibility on how any investigation is
undertaken. The Local Authority will scrutinise the process to provide assurance that the process is
fair and is objective and robust as possible.
Following recommendations made from the Francis Inquiry (2013) into Mid–Staffordshire NHS
Foundation Trust, the 2014 amendments to the Health and Social Care Act (2008) brought a
statutory responsibility to NHS organisations to demonstrate a duty of candour. Good safeguarding
practice requires openness and transparency. This is vital in relation to any safeguarding concerns
involving Trust staff or services. All staff must adhere to the SLAM
Being Open and Duty of
Candour Policy 2014. (2) How do council staff in an NHS trust and vice-versa maintain their impartiality?
Impartiality can be maintained by ensuring that the Safeguarding Manager based within the local
authority is able to provide independent scrutiny of the enquiry process. The Safeguarding
Manager is able to able to construct the terms of reference and monitor the process of the
investigation. They may in some circumstances refer the outcome to the Adult Safeguarding Board,
a multi-agency forum, for further review by an independent person to scrutinize the process and
identify learning points for all partner agencies.
(3) How long is reasonable for an organisation to respond to a safeguarding concern?
There should be an immediate response in terms of ensuring the safety of the individual at risk in
order to protect them from further abuse. South London & Maudsley NHS Trust Safeguarding Adult
Policy 2016 states that the concern should be notified to the local authority within one working day.
The concern should be addressed immediately in order to ensure the safety of the person at risk.
Any investigation or enquiry should commence within 5 working days and dependent on the
complexity and service user agreement conclude within 20 working days
(4) How many safeguarding concerns have been raised about an individual potentially being made
vulnerable through failings in your care in the last year?
There were 23 concerns raised during the period April 2017 – March 2018 where a South London
and Maudsley employee was alleged to be the source of risk.
(5) If an organisation has gone through it's internal complaints process and not found fault, will
someone who's sat in that organisation for three years and has their corporate email find fault?
Complainants who are dissatisfied with the Trust’s response at the Local Resolution stage may ask
the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) for an independent review of their
complaint. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is an independent body established
to promote improvements in health care through the assessment of the performance of those who
provide services.
(6) If medication is prescribed by the trust and a patient experiences side effects, what should Trust
staff do?
Please refer to the section 7 of the enclosed medicines policy which outlines the role of the
prescriber.
(7) If the concern is about physical health and the side effects of medication, why would that
investigation be referred to a mental health trust?
The Trust works in partnership with Local Authorities and other partner agencies as part of a wider
agency approach, to ensure effective safeguarding across our local communities. The Local
Authority is able to request any partner agency to undertake an enquiry on their behalf as stipulated
in the Care Act 2014. It is the Local Authorities responsibility to identify the most appropriate
service or individual to investigate the concern. Within South London and Maudsley NHS
Foundation Trust we have physical health care leads who are able to contribute to investigations
and if necessary consult with colleagues with acute physical health care services
(8) If an individual has said an organisations care is at fault and has therefore made them
vulnerable is it acceptable to pass a safeguarding concern to an individual sitting within that
organisation?
The Trust’s
Being open & Duty of Candour policy specifies that we have a contractual duty as
an NHS provider to be open and honest. This policy describes how South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) will demonstrate its openness with service users and relatives when
mistakes are made. Being Open is a set of principles that healthcare staff should use when
communicating with service users, their families and carers following an incident in which the
service user was harmed.
It is therefore a condition of employment that staff are open and honest and as an organisation we
should be transparent and learn from mistakes,
(9) What support is given to the individual who has raised a safeguarding concern to help them
through that process? And by who?
Support is available from each local authority to ensure that individuals are able to raise
safeguarding concerns. All staff receive training on safeguarding adults and we would expect all
South London & Maudsley NHS Trust staff to be able to identify abuse or neglect and raise an
concern or support one else to do so.
(10) Does your PALS service provide any advocacy help? And would they be suitable to help
someone in a safeguarding investigation if their Care Co-ordinator can't?
The PALS team do not provide advocacy but they can signpost individuals to the appropriate
advocacy organisations.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you
are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the Trust. This may be done by writing to the
Information Governance Office at the above address.
If you have any queries about this letter or if you are unhappy with the service you have received in
relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, please
do not hesitate to contact the Information Governance Office vi
a xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply to the Information
Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have
exhausted the complaints procedure provided by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation
Trust. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely,
Toyin Kazeem
Archives and Assurance Manager
