Adult Support and Protection National Strategic Forum minutes: September 2019

Attendees and apologies

Attendees 

• Jamie MacDougall (chair), Scottish Government 
• Vikki Milne, Scottish Government
• Dale Meller, Scottish Government
• Jean Harper, Scottish Government
• Kiran Haksar, Scottish Government
• Mike Diamond, Mental Welfare Commission 
• Fiona Brown, Office of the Public Guardian 
• Fidelma Eggo, Care Inspectorate     
• Maureen Berry, Healthcare Improvement Scotland      
• Paul Comley, Stirling University     
• John Paterson, SASPICA National Convenors Group
• Brenda Walker, Social Work Scotland ASP Leads
• Caroline Dean, Scottish Care     
• David Thomson, Mental Health Nurse Leadership Group
• Austen Smyth, Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland 
• Suzie Moran, Police Scotland

Apologies 

• Ms Clare Haughey MSP, Scottish Government
• Grace Gilling, NHS ASP Leads Network
• Elaine Galbraith, Police Scotland
• Alex Taylor, Chief Social Work Officers Group
• Shaben Begum, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
• Jeff Ace, NHS Chief Executives
• Laura Caven, COSLA and SOLACE
• David Lynch, IJB Chief Officers Group         
• Karen Hedge, Scottish Care
• Cathie Cowan, NHS Chief Executives 

Items and actions

Opening welcome to the Forum (Jamie MacDougal) 

Jamie MacDougall addressed the Forum and welcomed members to the third meeting of the Forum this year.  

Member introductions and any apologies (All)

Jamie MacDougall informed the Forum that the Minister for Mental Health was unable to attend this meeting and confirmed that he would be chairing the meeting in her absence. He then invited members to introduce themselves and noted apologies.

Previous minutes and actions arising (All)

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 June 2019 were agreed as an accurate record. Jamie McDougall summarised the actions from the previous meeting. The Adult Support and Protection (ASP) policy team confirmed these were complete except for the action pertaining to gathering the Forum’s views in relation to Significant Case Reviews (SCRs) and feedback in relation to the work on Clinical and Care Governance Guidance.

The ASP policy team updated the Forum on progress with developing the Interim SCR Guidance which is on schedule for publication in November. Jean Harper confirmed that she would circulate the draft guidance to the Forum for comment with a deadline of mid-September. (Action 1 – Jean Harper)

Dale Meller updated the Forum on progress with the draft Clinical and Care Governance Guidance being developed by Scottish Government and a planned engagement event on 21 October. This invitation will be shared with Forum members. (Action 2 – Kiran Haksar) 

Update on ASP improvement plan – written report & discussion (ASP Team)

Dale Meller referred to the Scottish Government ASP Improvement Plan update and invited the Forum to question/discuss anything in relation to any of the six improvement strands. The ASP policy team have mainly been working on development of the multi-agency inspection programme, the SCR guidance and the practice improvement strand over the last two months. It was confirmed that most of the improvement work is now underway with the exception of the public awareness/prevention and data outcomes strands. The new ASP policy team leader is now in post and work on these areas will now get underway.

The ASP policy team provided a brief update on the assurance and inspection strand. Recruitment for the multi-agency inspection teams is currently underway and that it is anticipated that staff will be in place by the end of November and the inspection work starting in early 2020. The multi-agency Inspection Reference Group is now meeting regularly and includes representatives from all the relevant stakeholders. The Reference Group will be meeting later this month to focus on service user and carer involvement, inspection reporting and the inspection communication plan. The Forum enquired about the level and nature of reporting resulting from the inspections. It is proposed that these reports are kept as simple as possible but further discussion is required. 

The Forum then discussed the governance strand of the improvement work. The ASP policy team confirmed that they have been formally asked to become involved in the development of an induction programme for Chief Officers (being developed alongside the child protection policy team in conjunction with the Child Protection Leadership Group). The Forum suggested there might be merit in including relevant leadership and learning resources for this group provided by the voluntary and private sectors.

The Forum discussed the other cross policy work including the timescales for the mental health legislative review and the interface with ASP. The ASP policy team is currently reviewing legal advice provided on ASP compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Forum agreed that early engagement with the Chair of the mental health legislative review would be helpful and that, ahead of this, thought needed to be given to the positioning of ASP. The ASP policy team asked the Forum about the appetite to start exploring a potential review of the ASP code of practice in relation to the legislative review, there was agreement that this would be useful. ASP policy team to explore Forum invitation to Chair of the mental health legislative review and engagement with Forum members about the positioning of ASP. (Action 3 – ASP policy team) 

The Forum also discussed Large Scale Inquiries and the issue of institutional harm in the context of the ‘Coming Home’ Report. Forum members expressed a wish to explore the possibility of incorporating ‘high risk cases’ (involving harm to vulnerable people living in institutions) into some form of register to introduce a national level of scrutiny and protection. It was acknowledged by Forum members that there exists a particularly high level of potential risk for adults placed in institutions a long way from their home area. The Forum explored whether this could be incorporated into the Multi-Agency Inspection Programme in some way. It was agreed to raise and explore this issue at the next Inspection Partners Group meeting in October. (Action 4 – Fidelma Eggo).The Forum agreed to put this on the agenda for the next Forum meeting in December as a substantive agenda item for discussion. (Action 5 – ASP policy team) 

Update on Duty of Candour written report & discussion (Paul Comley)

Paul Comley presented the written report on Duty of Candour developed by the small working group. He opened up the discussion and invited the Forum to provide their views on this. Discussion points in the Forum included: 

• guidance on Duty of Candour does not embed information about what to do if there is an adult at risk of harm identified 
• ASP guidance pre-dates Duty of Candour, therefore does not refer to it
• the need to disseminate Duty of Candour information and guidance more widely
• usefulness of updated practitioner guidance on Duty of Candour for third and independent sectors 
• usefulness of talking to NHS risk management teams about where the NHS views Duty of Candour and its relationship with ASP. ASP Policy Team to speak to the relevant policy team in the SG and feedback to the group. (Action 6 – ASP policy team) 

Update on Information Sharing within ASP written report & discussion (Brenda Walker & Paul Comley) 

Paul Comley and Brenda Walker presented the information sharing within ASP written report and provided some recent examples of information sharing issues in practice. The paper was prepared by the Social Work Scotland ASP Practice Network. Discussion points in the Forum included: 

• the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) appears to be hindering information sharing for ASP. The advice from the Law Society has been that GDPR considerations trump ASP information sharing at times. Fiona Brown meets regularly with the Law Society in her role within the Office of the Public Guardian – she agreed to discuss this issue with them (Action 7 – Fiona Brown) 
• forum agreed to consider the Australian information sharing model described in the paper (Action 8 – All)
• the Forum noted that an information sharing paper (in relation to GPs and primary care) has been developed and is being considered by relevant teams within Scottish Government
• the Forum agreed that it was useful to look at information sharing in the context of learning from Significant Case Reviews which highlight where information sharing hasn’t been effective in protecting people at risk of harm
• the Forum noted the usefulness of communication from some Chief Officers, following GDPR implementation in 2018, setting out clear messages about information sharing being an expectation and providing a mandate for staff to maintain usual practice
• the Forum noted that the review of Named Persons provisions within children and young people’s legislation and GIRFEC is nearing conclusion. The outcomes of this review may be useful in relation to adult support and protection. ASP policy team to find out what this review has concluded and bring information back to the Forum. (Action 9 – ASP policy team) 
• the Forum discussed the value and practicalities of developing a national Memorandum of Understanding and the benefits of doing this in conjunction with childrens’ services
• the Forum acknowledged that messages about information sharing can get lost at local level. The Forum noted the importance of getting consistent messages out to Health Boards and the Police (as well as other national bodies)

Police Scotland ASP policy update (Suzie Moran, Police Scotland)

Suzie Moran presented a strategic and operational ASP policy update from Police Scotland. This included information about the STORM pilot in north Scotland. Discussion points in the Forum included: 

• Fidelma Eggo enquired whether colleagues in Her Majesty’s Inspection of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) have been briefed on the STORM pilot. Suzie Moran agreed to update HMICS staff on Police Scotland’s strategic and operational ASP policy plans (Action 10  – Suzie Moran) 

Forum governance (ASP policy team)

The Forum discussed the ASP policy team’s proposal to develop the Forum’s strategic vision, reporting and governance structure. Comments from group included: 

• the Forum has focused on the Scottish Government ASP Improvement Plan to date and is ready to do more within its defined Terms of Reference
• it would be useful for the Forum to think about where financial harm sits
• it was agreed as a good idea that Forum members provide updates on their own organisational ASP improvements to the Forum in a more routine way to strengthen accountability and assurance
• it would be useful to bring different organisations into the discussion as required, ensuring and developing connections for the Forum in a strategic way
• the ASP policy team asked the Forum to consider how it might strengthen the governance of the Forum. In particular to consider whether to set up a separate facilitated session to develop the Forum’s strategic vision, reporting and governance. Due to time constants of this meeting it was suggested the development of a strategic vision be included as a substantive item at the next Forum meeting in December (Action 11 – ASP policy team)

Future Forum agenda items (All)

The ASP policy team will include the items noted above on the agenda for the next Forum meeting. (Action 12 – ASP policy team)

Actions noted:

• Jean Harper to circulate draft Significant Case Review (SCR) guidance to the Forum for comment with a deadline of mid-September. (Action 1 – Jean Harper)
• Kiran Haksar to share details of the planned engagement event on Clinical and Care Governance Guidance on 21 October with the Forum. (Action 2 – Kiran Haksar)
• ASP policy team to explore Forum invitation to Chair of the mental health legislative review and engage with Forum members about the positioning of ASP. (Action 3 – ASP policy team)
• Fidelma Eggo to find out whether “high risk” cases such as those involving adults being placed in institutions a long way from their home area could be explored as part of the Multi-Agency Inspection Programme with the Inspection Partners Group meeting in October. (Action 4 – Fidelma Eggo) 
• ASP policy team to include the issue noted above as a substantive agenda item for discussion at the next Forum meeting in December (Action 5 – ASP policy team)
• ASP policy team to speak to the relevant policy team in the SG about NHS views on Duty of Candour and its relationship with ASP (Action 6 – ASP policy team)
• Fiona Brown to discuss legal advice on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ASP information sharing with Law Society (Action 7 – Fiona Brown)
• Forum to consider the Australian information sharing model described in Paul Comley’s paper (Action 8 – All)
• ASP policy team to find out the conclusions of the Named Persons provisions within children and young people legislation (GIRFEC) review and bring information back to the Forum (Action 9 –  ASP policy team) 
• Suzie Moran to update HMICS staff on Police Scotland’s strategic and operational ASP policy plans (Action 10  – Suzie Moran)
• ASP policy team to include the development of a strategic vision as a substantive agenda item for discussion at the next Forum meeting in December (Action 11 – ASP policy team)
• the ASP policy team to include the items noted above on the agenda for the next Forum meeting (Action 12 – ASP policy team)
• Kiran Haksar to organise quarterly Forum meeting dates for 2020 at venues alternating between Edinburgh and Glasgow (Action 13  – Kiran Haksar)

Forum meeting dates for 2020 (All)

ASP policy team to organise quarterly Forum meeting dates for 2020 at venues alternating between Edinburgh and Glasgow. (Action 13 – Kiran Haksar)

Date of next meeting

The next meeting of this group will take place on the 3 December 2019, 09:30-11:30 in St Andrews House (Conference Rooms C&D).