Social Care News

Safeguarding arrangements - concerns raised with chair of National Safeguarding Advisory Panel

Safeguarding concerns raised with National Safeguarding Advisory Panel chair

The chair of the National Safeguarding Advisory Panel, Phil Hodgson, attended CFW’s Council in November to listen to members’ concerns over new strengthened adult and child protection arrangements proposed in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill.

Concerns of members which were fed back to Mr Hodgson included:

• How managers and care practitioners are to be represented at hearings
• Ensuring that evidence gathered would not be one-sided (proportionality)
• The need for a level playing field for everyone involved at hearings

Other concerns mentioned in a wide-ranging discussion included:

• The need to rasie the profile of the care sector and make care work a positive career choice
• The role and impact of the media
• The need to acknowledge the positives
• The need to value care workers

After the meeting, Mr Hodgson said: ""We were grateful for the opportunity to egnage with [CFW] Council members formally and informally [during the meeting]. The National Independent Safeguarding Board will have a key role in considering, and I anticipate, addressing some of these issues.

"My colleague Andrea Giordano and I both enjoyed the opportunity to provide background infromation about the work of the Safeguarding Advisory Panel and the next stage of our work in contributing to the development of regulations and guidance in response to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill," he added.

If you have concerns over safeguarding plans or issues, please get in touch initially with either mary@careforumwales.co.uk or melanie@careforumwales.co.uk