The Hammersmith & Fulham Safeguarding Adults Board (H&F SAB) Annual Report for 2024/25 has highlighted key lessons from a Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) concerning a young man named Hussain, who experienced a near-fatal incident leading to life-changing injuries. The report was reviewed at the Health & Wellbeing Board meeting on Wednesday 10 September 2025, where board members discussed the importance of multi-agency collaboration and empowering adults to make their own decisions.

The report details the work of the H&F SAB in protecting adults' rights to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. The H&F SAB's strategic aims are to develop responses to potential abuse and neglect, promote continuous improvement in safeguarding practice, and build active partnerships1. Progress against these aims is measured and reported through quarterly data dashboards, multi-agency audits, and themed assurance pieces at SAB meetings.

Fiona Bateman, the independent chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board, presented the report, emphasising the collective responsibility of various agencies in safeguarding adults with care and support needs. The work of the Safeguarding Adults Board is a collective, she said, It is a partnership from more than just the local authority.

The SAR concerning Hussain identified learning points in several areas:

  • Multi-agency planning: The review found limited evidence of multi-agency approaches, noting that information sharing could have been improved to affect meaningful and collaborative working relationships. The report emphasises the need for professionals to adopt multi-agency approaches and strengthen information sharing. The H&F SAB needs to continue to promote existing resources to support frontline professionals in adopting multi-agency approaches as part of standard responses to potential risk.
  • Professional curiosity: The review suggested a lack of professional curiosity about how Hussain's lived experience may influence his needs. The H&F SAB has developed resources to support understanding of professional curiosity, which is available for use within team meetings and reflective spaces. The board has committed to continued promotion of this resource: H&F SAB professional curiosity resource.
  • Empowering adults to make decisions: The review noted an overreliance on Hussain's family members to make decisions on his behalf. The report highlights the importance of timely mental capacity assessments to support adults in making their own decisions.
  • Navigating systems: Hussain and his family found it difficult to navigate the complex local health, social care, and housing landscape. The review suggests improving access to information on local systems and services in accessible formats.

Councillor Natalia Perez, Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Policy Accountability Committee, asked about the steps taken to empower adults to make decisions, referencing the over-reliance on Hussain's family in his case. Fiona Bateman responded that the board would be looking at how practice has moved on from previous cases and whether adults were asked about the outcomes they wanted from interventions.

The report also details responses to learning from previous SARs, including addressing abuse of staff and supporting multi-agency responses. The SAR concerning Brian found that on occasion Brian would display racist and abusive behaviour in various settings and towards professionals, and could be aggressive to professionals from all backgrounds. Two surveys were developed to get a better understanding of what support was currently in place for staff working in Hammersmith & Fulham. The first was aimed at SAB members and sought to gather assurance on existing policies and guidance within partner organisations. A second survey was aimed at staff to measure awareness of existing policies, procedures and guidance and to gather their views.

Public reports pack 10th-Sep-2025 18.30 Health Wellbeing Board.pdf

  1. The H&F SAB's strategic aims are: ↩

    1. Effective systems and processes: We will use an evidence-based approach to develop our responses to potential abuse and neglect and areas of complexity
    2. Creating a culture of learning: We will promote continuous improvement in safeguarding practice by learning from experience and supporting workforce development.
    3. Communication and partnership: We will work to build active partnerships and expand our network.