Datix teams up with Good Governance Institute to produce new best practice guide for Adult Safeguarding
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Wednesday 21 December 2011

Maturity Matrices Model helps healthcare organisations assess their approach to Adult Safeguarding

Datix, a leading supplier of software for patient safety, risk management, incident and adverse event reporting, has teamed up with the Good Governance Institute (GGI)  to produce a best practice guide to adult safeguarding.  The GGI’s latest “Board Assurance Prompt to Adult Safeguarding” is a five-step maturity matrices model, aimed at non-executive directors of Health Boards and Local Authorities that challenges organisations to assess their approach to protecting vulnerable adults in their care.

Darren Thorne, Director at the Good Governance Institute, commented, “Recent high profile cases of adult abuse highlight the need to address this increasingly serious issue. Many adults, particularly the elderly, can suffer physical, emotional and financial harm at the hands of their carers and even their own families. However, unlike children who are protected by statutory responsibilities that enable agencies to act in high risk environments, adults sometimes choose to stay in their situation. We see it as our duty to help healthcare professionals everywhere to spot the signs of abuse and put in place an effective framework for adult safeguarding.”

Production of the GGI’s powerful self-evaluation care-reckoner tool involved consultation with key experts from across the health and social care industry as well as the police.  Everyone from GPs, healthcare provider managers and clinicians, PCT and cluster board members, local authorities, police and third sector organisations to patients’ advocates came together in a series of workshops to lay down the foundations for better adult care.

By answering a series of questions, healthcare professionals can determine the maturity of their organisation from step one (‘basic level’ where the principal of adult safeguarding is accepted and there is commitment to action) through to step five (‘exemplar’ where others can learn from an organisation’s consistently high achievements in adult safeguarding). Teams can then work together to develop a 12-month improvement plan that monitors progress and effects change where necessary.

One of the most interesting outcomes of the project was the realisation that a move towards intelligence-led adult safeguarding is emerging.  Currently, each organisation, agency or individual has its own process for collecting information on vulnerable people but there is no central means of storing the information or collaborating across agencies or as an industry.

Datix Chief Executive, Jonathan Hazan concluded, “Technology provides the opportunity to collate and share information across the whole healthcare economy.  By combining web-based solutions with the commitment of healthcare professionals everywhere, knowledge and data can be collected to promote shared learning and lead to the provision of a safer environment in the future for the most vulnerable people.”

Download the new “Board Assurance Prompt to Adult Safeguarding”.

About the Good Governance Institute

The Good Governance Institute (GGI) is an established organisation supporting better governance practice. The GGI operates in two ways, firstly providing support services to undertake board reviews and board development sessions, and secondly seeking to move governance thinking by accepting commissions to develop and write think pieces. Recent examples include the governance of Safety and Cost, Flexible Working, and Long Term Conditions. For further information visit www.good-governance.org.uk or contact darren.thorne@good-governance.org.uk

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