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Four years ago the No Secrets guidance was issued in England by the Department of Health.¹ It required social services departments to co-ordinate local development of multi-agency policies and procedures, in partnership with other relevant agencies, to protect vulnerable adults from abuse.

A project was designed by Practitioner Alliance Against Abuse of Vulnerable Adults (Pava) to examine the implementation of No Secrets from a more practice-oriented perspective, and to identify good and innovative initiatives at local level, so others across the country could learn from them. These aims recognise the importance of translating guidance, policies and procedures into effective services and practice. The project also recognises that the protection of vulnerable adults within local multi-agency frameworks is at an early stage. Local initiatives are also encountering difficulties competing for resources.

The project, which began in January 2002, found that there were difficulties being experienced around the country in implementing the No Secrets guidance.² Other results, however, appeared to show that agencies within certain local authority areas were developing good practice initiatives.

In June 2003, about 30 representatives from 20 self-reporting "good" practice sites were invited to a Pava project forum day. There were some interesting views about what can block turning policy into practice. The two main areas of concern were a clash of cultures and perspectives within and between organisations and agencies; and a lack of commitment to the goals by agencies and senior managers. The delegates also believed that management support and working together were vital to turning policy into practice successfully.

There were plenty of ideas about the project's major objective of developing a proactive, engaged and committed practice network. Feedback appeared to indicate a desire for the network to have a real influence on government policy. The issue of consistency across local authorities was also given a high priority, and there were plenty of ideas and comments about collaborative, supportive working.

The development of the network is now an ongoing task for the project. The plan is that the sites invited to the forum day will facilitate mutual support and development, and raise the profile of adult protection. If further project funding can be obtained, the idea is to open the network out to a much wider membership.

Producing a directory of reported good practice for England, with contributions from the sites invited to the forum day is another major objective of the project. This will provide a valuable learning and development tool for other organisations and agencies.

Two of the ideas given highest priority in the directory concern national standards of good practice and ways of addressing prevention. This indicates a desire to move away from more "reactive" service provision, and encourage a measurable consistency of approach across the country. Creating a culture of collaborative, shared learning and working was also important to people.

We hope to have a basic directory ready for this year. It will give brief information about practice initiatives from participating sites, and a named person to contact for further details.

The project has also recently begun work with six practice sites, chosen from the 20 sites invited to the forum day, to tease out more information about their practice as a further learning exercise.

From working on the Pava project so far, it seems apparent that four main areas need to be addressed if local authorities and their partner agencies are to form a firm foundation for translating the No Secrets guidance into effective, robust practice.

First, organisations need to prioritise their response to the abuse of vulnerable adults. Real commitment and ownership of the issues by those who direct organisations is vital if their practitioners are going to be motivated and able to do the work.

Second, as part of this prioritisation and commitment, there needs to be a realistic allocation of resources. The best policies and guidance in the world will have little impact if the resources to do the job are inadequate.


Third, the public, vulnerable adults and their carers need to know about the issues, what to do to help prevent abuse, and how to respond to abuse if it is encountered. Organisations, agencies, and practitioners need to know how to work with the issues. They also need to compile information and data about the effectiveness of their responses.

Fourth, organisations and agencies need to be able to work in effective partnership with each other, with vulnerable adults and carers, and with the public. Working in isolation or in "competition" simply will not get the job done, nor will expecting "somebody else" to do it.

The need for councils and their partner agencies to address these areas will no doubt appear obvious to many reading this article. Arguably, the two most important areas to address in terms of promoting the whole process are those of organisations and agencies prioritising their response, and working in partnership. The first will perhaps often rely on a "champion" within organisations, a person or people who will effectively promote the issue at decision-making levels, or motivate somebody who can.

Partnership is at times one of the most problematic areas. Although the approach of "working in partnership" is greatly promoted in public sector policy and guidance, the reality sometimes appears difficult to achieve. Among other things, the process might founder on the different agendas of the parties involved, the "clashing personalities" of lead officers, or indeed, inadequate partnership frameworks and processes.

One of the keys to working in partnership is perhaps the ability to go right back to the beginning; to look at common goals and what all parties need and want to achieve - the protection of vulnerable adults from abuse.

It then hopefully becomes clearer that the investment needed to facilitate real partnership working is one worth making. The benefits of combining knowledge, expertise, influence and resources in a unified approach to the issues are plainly evident. It is vital that organisations and agencies in all sectors work with their differences and find the common ground.

The Pava Project

The three-year project, which began in January 2002, is funded by a DoH section 64 grant, and consists of a full-time project worker who reports to the Pava executive board, and some part-time administrative assistance.  

The project's information gathering indicated that there were both difficulties and good practice associated with implementing the No Secrets guidelines.  In June 2003, about 30 representatives from 20 self-reporting "good" practice sites were invited to a Pava project forum day to discuss progress.    

Andy Foskett is project officer. He can be contacted at the Pava Project, Clarence House, 46 Humberstone Gate, Leicester, LE1 3PJ. Tel: 0116 2621654. 

References  

¹ Department of Health, No Secrets: Guidance on Developing and Implementing Multi-agency Policies and Procedures to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Abuse, DoH/Home Office, 2000 

² Foskett A, The PAVA Project Year 1 Report: January 2002 to January 2003 - Stage 1: Information Gathering, available at www.pavauk.org.uk