What is Safeguarding and what does a Safeguarding Adults Board do?

This is the first blog I have done as Chair of Wolverhampton Safeguarding Adults Board. However, our research tells us that most people don't know what the word 'safeguarding' means or what safeguarding is, so let me start by saying something about why we meet, what we do and most importantly why it matters.

We all know that some adults are not always best placed to protect themselves and can get abused, bullied and ripped off. Sometimes that can be by strangers, but often it is by people they know and have a right to trust. It can be the physical abuse of a frail elderly person. It can be a relative stealing from a brother who has learning disabilities. It can be the rogue trader who charges massive amounts for jobs people don't need. It could be the sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult who doesn't know how to say 'no'.

It is the job of us all to safeguard people against that sort of abuse and exploitation. Its down to the Police, social workers, doctors, nurses, probation officers, faith groups, housing officials and the public in general to do that.

I chair a Board of senior representatives of all of the agencies mentioned above and many more. I am an independent person as I don't work for any one agency. My job is to encourage all partners to assure us that their staff are properly trained to recognise any form of abuse when they see it, and to act upon what they see. But it's not just waiting until things go wrong, it is also about prevention. We can all make it clear we will not tolerate the abuse and exploitation of people unable to protect themselves. If people intent on abusing and exploiting others know that their criminal activity is likely to be discovered, we can deter them from even starting down that road. We can reduce doorstep crime by warning people of the scams going on. We can make a difference. We may not be able to stop abuse and neglect completely, but we should all commit to making this less likely to happen.

Our Board has made a plan about how e can go about making Wolverhampton a safer place for those citizens most at risk of abuse. But we would really like to hear your views about what we are doing and whether we have got this right. Below you will find a link to our priorities for action. You may agree with them or you may not. Whatever you think, we want your input to get this right. We are not just relying on this blog to get feedback we are arranging a series of consultations with groups of people with a direct interest in protecting people or who have themselves been abused and exploited.

I was going to tell you about our Board meeting on 17th March but I think we needed to start the story with why a Board exists and how you can have a say in what it does. More about our detailed work next time.

Click here to find out about our priorities for action.

If you want to comment or reply to me you can do this by email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.