Plymouth Safeguarding Adult Partnership (PSAP) annual data 2023 to 2024
Activity
In 2023/24 7,525 Safeguarding Referrals were received. Demand (Referrals received) increased on 22/23 levels to its highest level yet (an increase of 4.5%). The longer-term trend is upward with the number of referrals received growing year on year (with 22/23 an exception).
7,646 safeguarding referrals were completed under the triage process (as opposed received) and of these 1,025 (13%) were triaged as a Safeguarding Concern, i.e. met the Care Act definition for a statutory safeguarding response. This means that the conversion rate from Referral to Concern has risen slightly (in 2022/23 12.2% of Referrals became a Concern).
The number of Safeguarding Concerns completed in 2023/24 was 1,092, 27% more than the 860 completed in 2022/23 (greatly aided by a change of Case Management System). The number of Section 42 Safeguarding Enquiries completed in 2022/23 was 469 23%, higher than the 382 completed in 2022/23.
The chart below illustrates that during 2022/23, 58% of completed Concerns resulted in a S42 enquiry (a drop from 65% in 22/23). NFA indicates no further action under the safeguarding process, but other interventions may have resulted.
Location
A person’s own home (which could include a number of settings) continues to be the highest percentage of locations reported, in 2023/24, 61% of completed enquiries were recorded under that location, down from 62% in 2022/23.
The percentage of s42 enquiries reported within a care home setting (nursing or residential) has fallen again from 19% (85) to 17% (87).
The distribution of safeguarding across other location settings has remained relatively unchanged in 2022/23.
Categories of abuse
The five most common categories of abuse are unchanged in 2023/24, Neglect / Acts of Omission is still the most common, and rose from 17% to 20%. Second once more was Financial / Material Abuse, remaining at 16%. This was followed by Self Neglect, rising from 4th (13%) to 3rd (15%), Physical Abuse (remaining at 15%) and Psychological Abuse (dropping from 13% to 11%).
In 2023/24 the numbers of S42 Enquiries relating to Organisational Abuse decreased from 178 to 49, ending the trend of the previous two years.
Demographics
Again, in 2023/24 people aged 65 and over were the subject of a safeguarding concern more often than those aged 18 to 64. The difference between the two age groups is narrower than in 2022/23, with 53% (down from 55%) of concerns involving those aged 65 and over, compared to 47% (up from 45%) aged 18 to 64.
When it comes to the split for S42 enquiries however, arguably a better measure as these are cases that have been progressed for investigation, the pattern from 22/23 is repeated and those Aged 18-64 were the most prevalent (53.5% vs 46.5%).
Females are the most likely subjects for safeguarding, at 57% (up from 54%) for concerns, and also 60% (up from 55%) for a S42 enquiry. In both cases the percentage for Females has risen.
Making safeguarding personal
- 70% of people identified their preferred outcomes
- 16% of people were not asked for their preferred outcomes
- 12% of people did not identify their preferred outcomes
In 2023/24, 82% of individuals who were the subject of a completed safeguarding enquiry were asked if they had a desired outcome at the start of the enquiry, down from 88% in 22/23. Audits have shown that there are plausible reasons for the majority of those not asked, due to their individual circumstances.
In 2023/24 64% of desired outcomes were fully met, this is a decrease from 70% in 2022/23. The percentage of outcomes partially met increased 29% compared to 27% in 2023/24. Practitioners endeavour to support people to hold realistic desired outcomes but this is not always achievable.
Overall, in 2023/24 93.6% of expressed outcomes were partially or fully met, down from 96.9% in 22/23.
