Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Annual Report 2024/25

Monthly cross partnership meetings

To promote effective collaboration across the GSAB, GSCP, Community Safety Partnership, and the Domestic Abuse Partnership Board, managers from each partnership convene monthly. These meetings follow a structured agenda and provide a forum for sharing updates on reviews, projects, and legislative developments. They also serve to identify opportunities for joint working to support shared priorities and areas of need.

Updates

To support transparency and shared understanding across Gateshead's partnership boards, business managers contribute updates to one another's information reports. These reports are presented at board meetings, ensuring each board remains informed of the ongoing work and priorities of other partnerships. This process supports a consistent and timely flow of information between boards and partnerships, strengthening communication and collaborative working.

Drug and Alcohol Strategy Development Group

The GSAB BM plays an active role in the Drug and Alcohol Strategy Development Group. The aim of the group is to produce and deliver a strategy to address drug and alcohol related issues within Gateshead.  The multi-agency group aims to ensure effective partnership working to deliver a borough wide evidence-based Drug and Alcohol Strategy and Action Plan on behalf of both the Community Safety and Health and Wellbeing Boards.

Emerging trends - suicide

The GSAB supported a meeting hosted by Public Health in September 2024, following a rise in the number of female suicides reported in Gateshead since November 2023.  The meeting was attended by representatives from:

• Adult Social Care
• Children Services
• Northumbria Police
• Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Foundation Trust
• North East and North Cumbria ICB
• Change Grow Live (CGL - recovery services)

The group reviewed 7 cases to identify suicide contagion or clusters and to identify any similarities in risk factors.  The main risk factors identified were, mental health issues, domestic abuse and substance misuse (drug and alcohol).  There were additional factors identified around contact with children's services in relation to the care of their own children, having had children removed from their care, and individuals being diagnosed or on the pathway for diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). 

Two of the individuals lived in close proximity to each other one area of Gateshead.  The individuals died within 6 months of each other; however, the group was unable to establish if the individuals were known to each other. 

Gateshead Recovery Partnership (GRP) are now providing additional services in this area to ensure there is adequate provision for individuals with substance misuse issues and CNTW are working with the local GP practice to develop mental health service provision.  Further work is to be undertaken by Public Health to consider actions in relation to the findings.

Review of Gateshead Council's domestic abuse services

The Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Board instigated a strategic review of domestic abuse, with the aim of ensuring we are delivering an effective and sustainable model across the Council.  They have also agreed a new Domestic Abuse Strategy 2025/28 and agreed a number of strategic objectives with a supporting action plan. The four pillars of the strategy are each being supported by a working group:

• Prioritising Prevention
• Supporting Victim/Survivors
• Tackling Perpetrators
• Creating a Stronger System

The report has been published and is available to view here.

Domestic Abuse Task and Finish Group - Domestic abuse and over 55's

The GSAB Business Manager takes an active role in the Domestic Abuse Task and Finish Group which was set up to consider how to effective support older people experiencing domestic abuse'.  The group aims to:

Identify the specific needs of this client group (over 55)

Undertake a scoping exercise to identify appropriate effective signposting to partner agencies

Understand agency referral routes/ criteria

Decide on most appropriate methodology to demonstrate a route to support

Consultation has been undertaken with partner representatives and with people who have been the victim of domestic abuse.  The key themes from this consultation were:

Lack of training, practitioners do not have the skills or knowledge to ask the questions at the right time.  Need to upskill frontline workers from health, libraries, leisure, pharmacies etc to instigate conversations and signpost to appropriate services. Scoping exercise identify domestic abuse training resources, who is delivering training, how can training be accessed (particularly for people working outside of the LA).

Publicity, awareness raising, older people need to recognise when they are in a domestically abusive relationship.  Changing their perception of domestic abuse, consider coercive control and psychological abuse.  The co-production group have made several suggestions on publicity material and where they should be made available.  Consideration needs to be given to male and ethnic minority victims.

Recognising that older people have different needs to younger people in relation to domestic abuse, and may need differing advice on finances, housing and benefits.

National Referral Mechanism (NRM)

The NRM is a framework for identifying victims of human trafficking or modern slavery and ensuring they receive appropriate support.  The local authority is working to develop a corporate process to ensure all employees are aware of the authority's responsibilities as a first responder under the framework and to develop a process for effective reporting and recording.  A group including representatives from Public Health, Community Safety, Adult Social Care, Housing, Economy Innovation and Growth and Housing, Environments and Health Communities met in February 2025.  The group discussed Community Safety Partnership owning and overseeing the process, they will act as a single point of contact.  The authorities Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Exploitation [MTSE] Concept of Operations which was developed in September 2017, to be reviewed to include guidance on the NRM process and ensure it is embedded in practice.

The group agreed key actions:

• Process to be developed using the No Recourse to Public Funds process/ framework as a template.
• Pathway on reporting, can anyone within the authority report or are all referrals via Community Safety - who reports and how do they report
• Process for recording referrals/ cases
• Who is responsible for the NRM in each service area

Updates on progress are provided to the Joint Strategic Exploitation Group.