Safeguarding reassurance
An organisation-wide survey carried out by Adullam has provided reassurance that Safeguarding is embedded into the culture of the Association.
A comprehensive check, the survey responses provide Adullam with details of how much is known about safeguarding, how confident staff feel about reporting safeguarding concerns, and about the uptake and relevance of training available. Answers are also helpful in identifying any areas requiring more work.
The results are very reassuring, with high levels of awareness, confidence, and 87% of staff saying safeguarding is discussed weekly in team meetings.
92% of respondents knew who the local allocated safeguarding representatives for adults and children were in their region, reflecting the impact of organisation-wide promotional events such as National Safeguarding Week and inclusion in safeguarding policy.
85% felt confident in escalating/reporting safeguarding concerns to the local authority. This has been a focus for training and area of improvement in Adullam’s revised safeguarding policy as a result of feedback from a previous survey.
Virtually everyone – 99% – knew how to access the Safeguarding Policy and of those, 91% were satisfied with it. This comes from continuous review of the policy by listening to staff feedback, managing trends via quarterly/bi-annual safeguarding meetings and desire to improve the policy embedding tools to support staff in their safeguarding duties.
Among areas that the survey has helped identify is the need to ensure agency/temporary staff access suitable training and induction. Also targeted for improvement is a drop in local authority safeguarding training attended through relevant opportunities.
Training is to a good standard and frequency, type and need met, but must remain a key focus in regions bespoke to service type and reporting data captured.
A bi-annual meeting with regional coordinators has been organised to take place in April at which the survey results will be reviewed in full, and actions agreed for 2023/24.