Dozens of referrals were made over safeguarding concerns at Sefton care homes in the last three months of 2021.
In total there were 87 safeguarding referrals made, with over a third of those about episodes of abuse within care homes in the borough.
According to a report produced ahead of a meeting of Sefton Council ’s Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, due to take place next week, the most common type of abuse seen in care homes between October and December was neglect and “acts of omission.”
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The report states this accounted for 61% of abuse taking place in the borough’s care homes during the period.
There are over 130 care homes in Sefton, housing around 3,100 people.
While some are council funded, others are funded by the NHS or through private and local authority funded placements.
Care homes have a duty under the Care Act to report safeguarding concerns to the local authority, with a total of 170 reported during the last quarter of 2021 – over half of which ended up in referrals with further investigations taking place.
The report noted a high level of satisfaction had been reported in terms of safeguarding referrals in Sefton, with all those providing feedback following referral stating their preferred outcomes had been largely met.
Sefton has recently set up a Safeguarding Adults Board and in a previous committee meeting in October it was agreed that regular updates would be provided to councillors, who expressed concern over a general decrease in safeguarding referrals during the pandemic.
Councillors will meet on Tuesday to discuss the borough’s approach to dealing with concerns for the safety and wellbeing of those in care homes, as part of an annual review of its organisation safeguarding strategy.
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