Engagement and Consultation Feedback

Project overview

Between June – September 2021 the NYSAB went out to speak to as many people as possible. The purpose of this engagement work was to understand what information and resources the people of North Yorkshire wanted and to also identify meaningful and effective ways of engaging with the NYSAB and its partners.

We hoped that by engaging with and hearing from lots of people across North Yorkshire that we could do a number of things:

• Update the information we share with people, so they know how to keep themselves and others safe;

• Continue to look at ways we can work together to co-produce accessible information for all;

• Strengthen our engagement across North Yorkshire;

• Make sure our engagement is meaningful; and

• Listen to what people want and act on it.

Due to the restrictions in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were unable to carry out face-to-face engagement as planned and so we worked with the KeyRing self-advocates to co-produce an accessible survey.

We also produced an accessible presentation for people to use and conduct their own engagement events. We also produced an online SNAP survey

We would like to thank everybody who has taken part in our engagement and consultation.

The feedback we received from this engagement and consultation will help the NYSAB understand what are the best ways to communicate with, engage with and listen to people about safeguarding across North Yorkshire.

What we asked

We asked the following 4 questions to understand what people know about the NYSAB and safeguarding in general, and if they require further information, what this would be and how they would like to receive this

1. What do you know about the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board?
2. Thinking about keeping yourself and others safe – what information would you like from the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board?
3. How would you like the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board to produce these resources and information?
4. How do you want to hear from the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board?

We asked the following 4 questions to understand what people know about the NYSAB and safeguarding in general, and if they require further information, what this would be and how they would like to receive this.

1. What do you want to tell the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board?
2. How do you want to tell us this?
3. How would you like us to show that we have listened?
4. Is there anything else you would like to tell the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board?

Summary – What you told us

• Of the 392 people we engaged with – 25% (98 people) did not know what the NYSAB does. 

• Of those who said they were aware of the Board and its purpose, 18% (70 people)believed that safeguarding concerns should be reported to the NYSAB and not the local authority.

• Almost everyone we spoke to wanted information about what the Board does and understand what its priorities are.

• In terms of safeguarding, people asked for information about what abuse is, how to spot the signs and how to report abuse. When we discussed the resources already available people said that they didn’t know that they were there.

• The most popular formats for information and guidance were one-minute guides, podcasts, short videos including YouTube clips, webinars, case studies. 

• Almost all participants (97%) asked for information to be accessible for both members of the public and professionals.
• At the 15 engagement events participants asked for information, guides and updates to be shared in ‘plain English’ with ‘no jargon’.

• People said that they liked the one-minute guides but would find it helpful if there was less jargon in these. If technical words had to be used in the guides, these should be explained.

• Both professionals and the wider public fed back that they found agencies still use inaccessible language, acronyms and jargon that ‘they may be able to understand – but we can’t’

• At the engagement sessions with professionals’ people fed back that some policies and guidance are very long and suggested having a one-minute-guide to go alongside so that the key details and any required actions for providers could be quick to read.

• Many professionals (89%) fed back that the wording and terminology used by organisations can be confusing and alienate people. This can lead to people feeling inadequate.

• At a meeting with family members and carers they asked that information is provided to them around what support is available for them if their loved one is being cared for.

Appendix B sets out the detailed feedback which we received from people for each question we asked during the engagement.

We have analysed the answers and feedback people gave us and based on the feedback people gave, we have made seven recommendations which can be found on page 6 of this report.

Some of the he answers people have shared about how to report safeguarding concerns are not quite right and some of the things that people asked for we already produce.

We know that we need to make sure people know how to report concerns and about the resources we have these – and the feedback has helped inform our recommendations. In the meantime, we have put together a list of helpful links in Appendix A.

What we will do about it

Recommendation 1

NYSAB and its partners to raise awareness to ensure the people of North Yorkshire know how and where to report a safeguarding concern.

Recommendation 2

­NYSAB to develop a communications and engagement campaign for it and its partners to promote the Board’s existing safeguarding resources at both a strategic and local level.

Recommendation 3

NYSAB to review and update its existing suite of safeguarding information and resources to ensure it is in line with the feedback from the engagement and consultation as well as the Joint Engagement and Communication strategy – particularly in relation to accessibility.

Recommendation 4

NYSAB to seek assurance from its partner organisations that they are following and implementing the Joint Engagement and Communication strategy

Recommendation 5

Work with the third sector to raise awareness and increase knowledge around safeguarding in community settings.

Recommendation 6

NYSAB to share the findings from this review with organisations, in particular the NYCC safeguarding team, and seek assurance that, where appropriate, relevant and timely action has been taken.

Recommendation 7

NYSAB and its partners to ensure and evidence that they are providing meaningful and qualitative opportunities for people to feedback and provide their input.

Next steps

Now that we have made our recommendations, we will work with people across North Yorkshire to co-produce an action plan which will outline how we will deliver and implement changes.

There will be some things that we can do in the short-term, such as continuing with spreading the word and raising awareness – and other things that will take time as they require a lot of work and input – such as reviewing, updating and co-producing resources – but we feel these things are important.

We will be going back to people to make them aware of the changes we want to make based on their feedback and will keep people up to date with progress via our online channels but also engaging with people by attending groups and meetings to share what we are doing.

We will also provide our first full update in the NYSAB annual report for 2021 – 2022 which will be published later in the year along with a ‘You said – we did’ summary

You can keep up to date with progress on our dedicated webpage at https://safeguardingadults.co.uk/engagement-and-consultation