The purpose of the Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework is to set out clearly the safeguarding roles and responsibilities of all individuals working in providers of NHS funded care settings and NHS commissioning organisations. The Framework aims to:
identify and clarify how relationships between health and other systems work at both strategic and operational levels to safeguard children, young people and adults at risk of abuse or neglect
clearly set out the legal framework for safeguarding children and adults as it relates to the various NHS organisations, in order to support them in discharging their statutory requirements to safeguard children and adults
outline principles, attitudes, expectations and ways of working that recognise that safeguarding is everybody’s business and that the safety and well-being of those in vulnerable circumstances are at the forefront of our business
identify clear arrangements and processes to be used to support practice and provide assurance at all levels, including NHS England and NHS Improvement Board, that safeguarding arrangements are in place
promote equality by ensuring that health inequalities are addressed and are at the heart of NHS England and NHS Improvement’s values
This framework aims to provide guidance and minimum standards but should not be seen as constraining the development of effective local safeguarding practice and arrangements in line with the underlying legal duties. The responsibilities for safeguarding form part of the core functions for each organisation and must therefore be discharged within agreed baseline funding.
In August 2019, the National Safeguarding Steering Group (NSSG) tasked NHS Safeguarding to co-create a Clinical Commissioning Group/Integrated Care System assurance process relating to the statutory and mandated functions of safeguarding across the NHS commissioning landscape. It was agreed by regional safeguarding leads that the commissioning assurance process needs a single toolkit which might act as a catalyst for commissioning conversations and quality improvement plans.
Supported by the pledge of digitally enabled services in the NHS Long Term Plan, the safeguarding commissioning assurance toolkit is digitally enabled to improve safeguarding outcomes. It provides assurance on 11 indicators that are aligned to the Safeguarding Accountability Assurance Framework (SAAF) on key areas:
leadership and organisational accountability
training
safer recruitment/HR
interagency working
implementation (sharing and learning good practice)
patient engagement and supervision
The projected timeline for rollout of this key safeguarding assurance process will likely be April 2021.