All practitioners working with children, young people, adults with care and support needs and carers have a responsibility towards their clients to ensure that the child’s or adult’s welfare is seen as a priority at all levels of practitioner activity. Practitioners are individually responsible for being satisfied about the substance and progress of safeguarding plans for service users.

The scope of this protocol relates to all individuals who work as practitioners with children, young people, adults with care and support needs and carers. The protocol should be used in all situations where there are concerns about practice, decision making or resource allocation and applies whether the practitioners work in a paid or voluntary capacity in the statutory and voluntary sector.

Examples of potential areas for escalation include:

• A poorly framed or constructed referral by a specific agency
• A failure to make a referral to Children’s/Adult’s Social Care in a timely way
• Disagreement between agencies about interpretation and implementation of thresholds for intervention
• Concern or disagreement about the outcome of assessments, plans, decisions and whether the appropriate case management is occurring to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child/adult
• Where no or inadequate action is being taken by an agency or any other issue where a practitioner remain concerned about a child or adult
• Concern there is drift or unreasonable delay in progressing a case resulting in a lack of sustained change and the outcomes have not improved
• Where there are concerns about practitioner practice in any agency
• Where a practitioner is uncomfortable about the position taken by their own management

Warwickshire Safeguarding have produced a Practitioner Escalation Protocol which provides clear guidance for practitioners. The protocol offers a three stage procedure and includes a reporting and monitoring processes.

All organisations should have a policy for internal escalation of disagreements about safeguarding issues which is made known to staff in their induction and refresher safeguarding training.

To access the Practitioner Escalation Protocol and supporting briefings, please click on the links below:

• WS Escalation Protocol
• Frequently Asked Questions Sheet
• 7 Minute Briefing
• Escalation Protocol Monitoring Form