Making Safeguarding Personal – advice for all

“Ensuring every citizen in Manchester is able to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Everyone who lives or works in the city has a role to play”.

Making Safeguarding Personal is a cornerstone of the MSAB Strategy 2015/18 and is fundamental to the achievement of our strategic vision.

The approaches of agencies and services to adult safeguarding should be person-led and outcome-focused. The Care Act 2014 emphasises a personalised approach to adult safeguarding that is led by the individual, not by the process. It is vital that the adult feels that they are the focus and they have control over the process.

Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) is not simply about gaining an individual’s consent, although that is important, but also about hearing people’s views about what they want as an outcome.

This means that people are given opportunities at all stages of the safeguarding process to say what they would like to change; this might be about not having further contact with a person who poses a risk to them, changing an aspect of their care plan, asking that someone who has hurt them apologises, or pursuing the matter through the criminal justice system.

MSP is also about ascertaining the extent to which the outcomes the individual wanted were realised in the end.

The MSAB recognises that this new way of working brings with it some challenges for agencies, and so is committed to providing the close monitoring and support that may be necessary to ensure effective implementation across the City.

In particular, the Board will be looking for:

• Evidence of how people’s experiences of safeguarding have been recorded and used to improve services.
• Evidence that people are asked about the outcomes they want, and information about the extent to which their outcomes have been achieved.
• Whether or not people have felt that they are in control of what happens to them following a safeguarding concern.
• Effective support being provided for Carers.
• Evidence that being safe is recognised as a personal choice.

For more information about Making Safeguarding Personal visit the:

• Local Government Association website – www.local.gov.uk
• SCIE website – www.scie.org.uk
• ADASS website –  www.adass.org.uk