Using this APPP Resource

This page provides a summary of how to use the South Tyneside Safeguarding Adults Board Adult Policies, Procedures and Practice (APPP) site.

Contents

• Finding your way around this Resource
• Accessibility Options
• Using the APPP Resource on Smartphones and Tablets
• Adding Shortcuts to the APPP
• Resources
• Amendments
• Date of Next Revision
• Search
• Register for APPP Update Notifications 
• Print
• Copyright

Finding your way around this Resource

This site is structured into different sections.

This site is divided into different sections. On the home page there are four tiles:

• Safeguarding Adults Procedures – contains the Safeguarding Adults policies, procedures and practice guidance;
• Are you worried about someone? – information on how to share concerns about an adult.
• Useful Links – links to the most commonly used local web pages for South Tyneside staff;
• Forms, Leaflets and Posters – forms which can be used to access support and share information, as well as materials to raise awareness of safeguarding adults issues, including seven minute briefings.

When you are in the Safeguarding Adults Procedures section, there are a number of tabs on the left side of the screen when viewed on larger screens or by clicking on the lined box in the top right corner on smaller screens (such as phones or tablets):

• Using this APPP Resource gives information about using this site, and Register with Us to receive notification when this APPP is updated;
• Contents contains the policies, procedures and practice guidance chapters. These are divided into sections which can be viewed by clicking on the arrow on the right of ‘Contents’;
• Resources provides a range of relevant supporting information. The different sections can also be viewed by clicking on the arrow on the right of ‘Resources’;
• Contact has a contact form for you to send a message to the Safeguarding Adults Board if you have a comment or suggestion you wish to make.

When you are in a webpage that has a contents list, you will notice a blue tab on the right hand side. You can click on this at anytime when you are in the chapter and it will bring up the contents list. This means you can move around sections of the page, without having to return to the top to see the contents. It is particularly useful in longer chapters.

Accessibility Options

This portal has a number of different options to aid online reading. Using the ‘Accessibility’ drop-down menu on the left-side of the screen, you can change to green, blue or pink backgrounds, high contrast (dyslexia-friendly) purple text on a beige background, high visibility yellow text on a black background or you can return to the default setting.

You can also resize the website by pressing CTRL and + together to make the site larger, you can keep pressing this to increase the zoom level. Pressing CTRL and – together makes the site smaller. This is a feature built into your web browser, known as in-browser zooming, and so depending on the browser you’re using the controls may be different.

In addition, the site is designed to be accessible for users of text only and screen reader software programs which allow blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer or braille display. Our content is consistently structured, including headings, which makes using the software on our site easier. Also, when viewed through screen reader software, every page has a ‘Skip to main content’ link which allows software users to go straight to the main content of that page instead of receiving the full navigation options every time. Please share this information with blind or visually impaired colleagues.

Using the APPP Resource on Smartphones and Tablets

This resource works well on smartphones and tablets by typing in the weblink in the internet address bar. When used on a smartphone, the APPP will immediately convert into a mobile friendly version..

Adding Shortcuts to the APPP

You can easily access the APPP by installing a shortcut on your device, which will directly open up your internet browser to the APPP portal. You can do so using the following methods:

• on desktop / laptops: go to the homepage of the APPP portal website in your internet browser, then bookmark it using your browser’s bookmark feature. Open your browser’s list of bookmarked websites and drag the APPP bookmark onto the desktop of your device.
• on smartphones / tablets : go to the homepage of the APPP portal website in your internet browser, and do the following:
  • On Android devices – click the three dots, and select ‘add to home screen‘.
  • On iOS / Apple – click the share icon , scroll down the page and select ‘add to home screen‘

Resources

The Resources section contains a number of links and documents to supplement the information in the chapters. It includes

• Briefings – written by the Policy Partners Project and our associates to reflect current issues or recently released research reports;
• Case Law and LGSCO Reports – information about recent significant court cases and key complaint investigation reports from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman;
• Case Studies – populated by case studies from the Care and Support Statutory Guidance;
• CQC Assessment Framework – information about the assessment framework which the CQC will use to inspect providers, local authorities and integrated care systems;
• Easy Reads – links to easy read information for people with care and support needs;
• Safeguarding Adults Forms, Leaflets and Posters – forms which can be used to access support and share information, as well as materials to raise awareness of safeguarding adults issues.
• Glossary – definitions and key terms used;
• Legislation – links to relevant legislation;
• National Guidance and Inquiries – links to national guidance, particularly from ADASS, LGA and SCIE and inquiry reports;
• Organisations – links to websites for relevant national organisations;
• Provider Resources – links to guidance and other information and national organisations who provide services and support to provider services;
• Safeguarding Adults Review Reports – links to significant SARs.

Amendments

If you want to make any changes to any chapters or write a new chapter, please Contact Us to discuss your ideas.

With each revised edition of this APPP, we indicate which chapters are new or have been updated. This information is available in the table below and at the top of each relevant chapter.

February 2026

Changes Made	Details
Adults Vulnerable to Radicalisation and Violent Extremism (including Prevent)	The Prevent National Referral form and flowchart ‘Sharing a Prevent Safeguarding Concern – Process to follow in South Tyneside’ have both been updated

January 2026

Changes Made	Details
Modern Slavery Cuckooing County Lines: Criminal Exploitation of Adults Financial Abuse Gang Activity, Youth Violence and Criminal Exploitation Affecting Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Working with Adults affected by Child Sexual Exploitation and Organised Sexual Abuse	All of these chapters have been updated to reference PREM (Partnership Reduction, Exploitation, Missing) and how it can be used in situations where existing child protection and adult safeguarding procedures have been followed without achieving sufficient risk reduction. If an adult remains at risk of harm because of exploitation or going missing, a referral to the PREM should be considered. More information, including PREM Terms of Reference, Flowchart and Referral form can be found in Safeguarding Adults Forms.
Organisational Abuse Procedures	Slides from a presentation on Understanding Organisational Abuse, Neglect and Acts of Omission have been added. The presentation provides an overview of organisational abuse, neglect and acts of omission, including environments where such abuse can take place and how to recognise and respond to such concerns.
Protocol for Responding to Allegations about People in a Position of Trust (PiPoT) Working with Adults	The following additional guidance has been added to the PiPoT page: PiPoT Seven Minute Briefing; PiPoT Overview Presentation from Safeguarding Adults Week; Person in a Position of Trust- Summary Guide; PiPoT Summary for Managers.
Complex Adult Risk Management (CARM) Policy and Complex Adult Risk Management (CARM) Practice Guidance	The following additional content has been added to the page: CARM 7 Minute Briefing; CARM – Frequently Asked Questions; CARM Process and Learning to Date.

December 2025

Changes Made	Details
Out of Area Safeguarding Adults Arrangements	This guidance has been reviewed and updated throughout following publication of the revised ADASS protocol for Out-of-Area Safeguarding Adults Arrangements (ADASS).
Multi-Agency Service Provider Concerns	Section 1.8 Out of Area Safeguarding Arrangements, has been updated to reflect the updated ADASS Out of Area Safeguarding Protocol.

September 2025

Changes Made	Details
Financial Abuse	A link to the Financial Abuse Practice Guidance has been added. The practice guidance has been produced in response to trends identified from local data and reviews, and aims to ensure early identification of financial abuse and a proportionate, timely response from practitioners.

August 2025

Changes Made	Details
Domestic Abuse	Information has been added on Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and a link added to Independent Domestic Violence Adviser Statutory Guidance. See Section 5.2.
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC)	Section 6, Independent Domestic Violence Advisers, has been updated with reference to the Independent Domestic Violence Advisers Statutory Guidance.
Health and Care Passports	This new chapter gives an overview of health and care passports which are used to share information with health and social care staff so they can provide adults with the right care and treatment. This includes any reasonable adjustments the adult requires, and how to communicate effectively with them to ensure their views are heard.

July 2025

Changes Made	Details
Protocol for Responding to Allegations about People in a Position of Trust (PiPoT) Working with Adults	This Protocol has been reviewed and updated throughout. It should be followed by all partner agencies when responding to allegations against people working with adults with care and support needs.
Adult Social Care and Commissioning Safeguarding Handbook	The handbook contains guidance for practitioners, focusing on strong practice skills for adult safeguarding.

June 2025

Changes Made	Details
Domestic Abuse	A new Section 3.2.6 Dementia has been added, to highlight issues to consider when domestic abuse and dementia are both present in a relationship. A link to a practitioner toolkit and safety planning tool developed by Aberystwyth University have also been added. Section 5.1 Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference has also been updated.
Working with People Living with Dementia	A new Section 9, Dementia and Domestic Abuse has been added, to highlight issues to consider when domestic abuse and dementia are both present in a relationship. A link to a practitioner toolkit and safety planning tool developed by Aberystwyth University have also been added.
Case Recording	This chapter has been updated to include learning from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report ‘Good Record Keeping’ which contains guidance on record-keeping for care providers.

May 2025

Changes Made	Details
Safeguarding Adults Reviews / SARs	the North East SARs Quality Markers Checklist has been added.  The Quality Markers are a benchmarking tool to support those who commission, conduct and quality assure SARs. They cover the whole process with the aim of providing a consistent approach to producing good high-quality SARs.

April 2025

Changes Made	Details
Types of Abuse and Neglect	Section 2.13, Organisational abuse has been updated to include information on closed communities, and Section 2.12 Neglect and acts of omission has been updated to cover best practice in supporting carers who are struggling / may unintentionally neglect the adult they are caring for.
Mental Capacity	A new Section 3.2 Who should carry out a mental capacity assessment? has been added, to provide information on which practitioners can carry out mental capacity assessments.
Stalking	This new chapter provides an overview of stalking behaviours and the Stalking Protection Orders Statutory guidance.
Working with Adults with Learning Disabilities	This new chapter contains best practice for working with adults with learning disabilities, including how to empower people they can recognise and understand any risks they may face and know what to do if they have concerns or are frightened about someone else.

February 2025

Changes Made	Details
Professional Curiosity	A link to the NEW Professional Curiosity Resource developed by the National SAB Business Manager Network has been added. The resource emphasises that professional curiosity is everyone’s business and includes practical examples of ways in which practitioners can build relationships with adults, by using communication skills, asking questions, listening and focusing on the person and their responses.
Safeguarding Adults Forms, Leaflets and Posters	An updated version of the Northumbria Police Partner Information /  Intelligence Submission Form has been added. The form can be used by multi-agency practitioners to share intelligence with Northumbria Police that may help in the prevention and detection of crime.
Domestic Abuse	This practice guidance has been reviewed throughout and extensively updated. New sections on the impact of domestic abuse, how adults with care and support needs are affected and barriers to seeking help have been added.
Assessing and Managing Risk	This guidance has been reviewed and updated throughout. Information on positive risk taking and strengths-based approaches have been added.
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards	Section 4, Restrictions and Restraint has been updated to reference the LGA and ADASS publication Promoting less restrictive practice: reducing restrictions tool for practitioners and reinforces the importance of ensuring that least restrictive practice principles are being followed.
Executive Function	This new guidance provides an overview of executive function and how it can impact mental capacity assessments. It also includes practice points to help support adults who have impaired executive function.

January 2025

New Content	Detail
Choking (Adults) -Learning Brief	This new learning brief summarises the risks of choking for elderly and disabled people. It then goes on to describe steps which carers can take to prevent the risk of choking, including how to assess risks and develop personalised care plans.

Date of Next Revision

This APPP is usually updated every six months, although there may be more frequent changes made as required. Please ensure you are Registered with Us to receive update notifications.

Search

Type in the word or phrase you are looking for in the ‘Search’ facility and press ‘Enter’. It will bring up a list of all the chapters where it appears. Click on the one you want. The word / phrase will remain highlighted in the chapter.

To make sure the search results more accurately reflect what you are looking for, you can add inverted commas (also known as speech marks) to the word or term you are looking for, for example “safeguarding” or “adult safeguarding”.

If you want to search for specific text within a chapter or a pdf document, you can also press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘f’ together. A box will appear in the top right of your screen. Type in the word / phrase you want to find and press ‘Enter’. The number of times it appears in the chapter will be displayed next to your word. Use the up and down arrows next to it to find all the references.

Register for APPP Update Notifications

We recommend you ‘Register with Us‘. This enables us to notify you that your APPP resource has been updated, which is usually every six months. By submitting this information, you will only receive email notifications from us in relation to APPP updates and your information will not be given to any third parties.

Print

This resource has been designed to be used online. If you print a chapter, for example to take to a meeting, please note it is valid for 72 hours only from the date it was printed. Whilst APPP resources are usually updated every six months, there may be occasions when they are updated urgently as a result of a Safeguarding Adults Review or inspection recommendation, so it is important to be sure that you are using the most recent copy. This is why we recommend that if you have to print a chapter, you no longer refer to it after that time.

Please remember that the resource can be also accessed on smartphones and tablets (see Using the APPP Resource on Smartphones and Tablets).

Copyright

The chapter content in this resource can be accessed, downloaded and printed unchanged, on a temporary basis. Any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in part or in whole in any manner or format without the prior written permission of Policy Partners Project Ltd.