What is Making Safeguarding Personal?

Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) is a sector led initiative which aims to develop an outcomes-focus to safeguarding work, and a range of responses to support people to improve or resolve their circumstances. It is about engaging with people about the outcomes they want at the beginning and middle of working with them, and then ascertaining the extent to which those outcomes were realised at the end. It is a personalised approach that enables safeguarding to be done with, not to, people, so that practice focuses on achieving meaningful improvement to people's circumstances rather than just on the process of ‘investigation' and ‘conclusion'.

What are the 6 principles of safeguarding?

Empowerment – People being supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent.

“I am asked what I want as the outcomes from the safeguarding process and these directly inform what happens.”

Prevention – It is better to take action before harm occurs.

“I receive clear and simple information about what abuse is, how to recognise the signs and what I can do to seek help.”

Proportionality – The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.

“I am sure that the professionals will work in my interest, as I see them and they will only get involved as much as needed.”

Protection – Support and representation for those in greatest need.

“I get help and support to report abuse and neglect. I get help so that I am able to take part in the safeguarding process to the extent to which I want.”

Partnership – Local solutions through services working with their communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse.

“I know that staff treat any personal and sensitive information in confidence, only sharing what is helpful and necessary. I am confident that professionals will work together and with me to get the best result for me.”

Accountability – Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.

“I understand the role of everyone involved in my life and so do they.”

How do we apply these principles in practice?

Empowerment - We give individuals the right information about how to recognise Abuse and what they can do to keep themselves safe. We consult with them before taking any action. Where someone lacks the mental capacity to make a specific decision at a specific
time, we always act in his or her best interests;

Prevention - We help individuals and the community to identify and report signs of Abuse and suspected criminal offences. We train staff how to recognise signs and take action to prevent Abuse occurring;

Proportionality - We discuss with the individual and where appropriate, with partner agencies, what to do where there is a risk of abuse or neglect before we make a decision. The actions we take are proportionate to the likelihood and risk of harm occurring, and is the least restrictive option;

Protection – We work in partnership with the person, their friends and family and advocates where appropriate. We have effective ways of assessing and managing risk in a person-centred way. Our local complaints and reporting arrangements for Abuse and suspected
criminal offences work well;

Partnership - We are good at sharing information locally. We have multi-agency arrangements in place and staff understand how to use these;

Accountability - The roles of all agencies and lines of accountability are clear. Staff understand what is expected of them and others.

How do we know we have applied the principles effectively?

If the principles are applied effectively, we expect the person to be able to agree with the following statements, although the application in practice should always be considered on an individual case basis.

• People worked together to reduce the risk to my safety and wellbeing;
• I had the information I needed, in the way that I needed it;
• Professionals helped me to plan ahead and manage the risks that were important to me;
• People and services understood me - recognised and respected what I could do and what I needed help with;
• The people I wanted were involved;
• I had good quality care - I felt safe and in control;
• When things started to go wrong, people around me noticed and acted early.
• People worked together and helped when I was harmed:
• People noticed and acted;
• People asked what I wanted to happen and worked together with me to get it;
• The people I wanted to be, were involved;
• I got the help I needed by those who are best placed to give it;
• The help I received made my situation better;
• People will learn from my experience and use it to help others;
• I understood the reasons when decisions were made that I didn’t agree with.

This information is adapted from the MSP information on the Social Care Institute for Excellence (scie) website.

There is also a dedicated Making Safeguarding Personal site with more detailed information about the approach and useful safeguarding resources.