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How we work together in Havering to keep adults and children safe

One of our important principles of working together with children and adults are our multi-agency use of strengths’ based systemic practice. We encourage local agencies in their work with families, and in their supervision or support to their staff, to look at the whole family structure or system, completing a genogram (family tree) as required to identify and understand the individual within their family, whether adult or child.  We want to work with people from a strengths’ based perspective- thinking what is going well for them before we focus on what needs to change and improve.

“In a nutshell, Systemic practice is about the importance of relationships as well as the ways we understand difficulties. Change is invited through dialogue and we are interested in language and how it is used. Our approach is strengths-based and aims to invite hope and connection by empowering people. We further pay attention to context and how it informs our (inter)actions alongside being aware of power differentials based on e.g. race, gender, abilities or role. Thinking more about our own lived experiences, beliefs, and social GRACES (e.g. gender, race, religion) and how those are impacting on what we are hoping to achieve is another key practice principle of working systemically”.  Petra Schmidt Head of Systemic and Clinical Practice,  Children’s Social Care, Havering Council.

To view Burnham’s Social Graces article please click here.

Learning and Improvement Framework-safeguarding across the life-course

 Working in partnership to safeguard and promote the welfare of adults, children and young people in Havering.

It is a requirement for all Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships (LSCP) under Working Together (2018) to have a Learning and Improvement Framework (LIF) which is shared across local organisations, who work or volunteer with children and families.

Similarly, the SAB (Safeguarding Adults Board) under the Care Act 2014 has the responsibility to ensure that learning and development opportunities in their local area are effective and appropriate for those who work or volunteer with adults at risk.

In Havering, by virtue of having a joint Partnership Chair and Team, we have a shared LIF for those who work with children and those who work with adults. This assures both the SAB and LSCP of safeguarding across the life-course and a joined up development approach to all workforce, community and faith groups.

We work in a systemic, strengths’ based manner across all agencies and as a Partnership in Havering. Our learning reviews and audits take a systems’ based format, where we seek to hear the user or participant’s voice and experience too. Our Young Advisors inform our scrutiny as does the work of our Independent Scrutineer and single agency participation surveys, including those gained by Healthwatch, for example.

Havering LIF enables organisations to be the most responsive to our local population, volunteer and paid workforce. Learning from our scrutiny of serious incidents, Rapid Reviews, the work of our LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) investigating allegation made against staff and volunteers, internal and external multi-agency inspections, learning and reviews, our Safeguarding Adults’ Reviews (SAR) referrals, multi-agency audits, data,  PIPOT (Persons in Positions of Trust)  information, and  training evaluations go into our learning cycle and filter into all our work to drive forward improvement. For example, our HSCP Learning and Improvement Tracker and the bi-annual actions meeting aggregates and monitors single and multi-agency learning from Rapid Reviews for children, as does our bi-annual HSAB Learning and Improvement Executive Meeting.

We recheck our audits after two years, and our learning from case reviews from six months onwards after completion. We look for impact on our frontline workers in our Section 11 Children Act 2004 safeguarding self-evaluations surveys, in our learning events and in our training programme.

In Havering, the LIF has a multi-agency learning and improvement plan which is based on the LSCP and SAB Priorities and Business Plans and incorporates recommendations from recent Local Safeguarding Child Practice Reviews (LSCPRs), (SARs) and National learning.

The LIF is owned by the Partnership Case Review Working Group (CRWG), which is the only joint working group across the LSCP and SAB, and it is endorsed by our other Working Groups. The LIF applies to all LSCP and SAB Partners, although some areas are specifically for individual agencies.  It has objectives, clarifies expectations about roles and responsibilities and outlines the approach, methods and activities that will be undertaken to implement local learning and improvement priorities.

Working Groups

Havering Case Review Working Group

 In September 2022, the Case Review Working Group, began chaired by Paul Archer, Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Children, NEL ICB and Joy Maguire NHS North West London ICB. The Group meets quarterly and then arranges additional meetings as required to consider incidents. It looks at local serious incidents for both children and adults and learning arising from them from a systemic, strengths’ based perspective. The group also considers national learning and the work of our regional Child Death Overview Panel in Havering, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge.

Please click on the Terms of Reference

HSCP HSAB Case Review WG ToR V5 Final

Representatives:

Chair Paul Archer Designated Nurse  NEL ICB

Chair Joy Maguire NHS North West London ICB

Lynne  Adams Head of Quality Assurance, Havering Council

Dr Mark Ansell Director of Public Health, Havering Council

Dr Elizabeth  Adamson  Designated Doctor, NEL ICB

Helen Chesterton  Named Professional Safeguarding Children NELFT

Lee Clegg Schools Inclusions Lead, Havering Education Services

Kate Dempsey, Principal Social Worker, Havering Children’s Social Care

Jeanette Ford CDOP Manager NEL ICB

DCI Daniel Thompson EA BCU

Lurleen Trumpet

Justine Yearwood Named Professional Safeguarding Children NELFT

Stephen Doye Legal Adviser

Tamsyn Basson – Starting Well

Juned Mohammed – CGL

Darren Alexander – AD Housing

Referrals can be made regarding incidents involving children or vulnerable adults using these forms here

Children

https://safeguardinghavering.org.uk/childrenpartnership/home/safeguarding-practice-reviews/notifiable-child-safeguarding-incidents/

and here:

Adults

https://safeguardinghavering.org.uk/adultsboard/home/safeguarding-adults-reviews/154-2/