Adult death protocol - learning briefing
Background
When an adult dies suddenly and it is suspected or known that they were abused or neglected, it's very difficult for agencies to handle.
Learning from past cases, we see that agencies often don't work together well enough to deal with these deaths quickly or effectively.
Adult B Safeguarding Adult Review published in February 2020 suggested that we need to review how we investigate these deaths. We should learn from existing mandates and the Child Death Review process.
When will the protocol apply?
The adult death protocol should only be used when:
- an adult dies suddenly or unnatural circumstances
- we suspect or know that they were abused or neglected and that this contributed to their death
- the abuse or neglect is believed to have been caused by a third party.
It will not apply in any situation involving a suspected homicide. Instead the homicide investigation and the Domestic abuse related death reviews (DARDR) process applies.
The adult death protocol does not replace any existing internal policies or procedures of partner agencies. This guideline is based on existing law. It should be used along with the Sussex safeguarding adults policy and procedures and the Sussex information sharing guide and protocol.
How do you make a referral?
Any agency or professional can make a referral for the adult death protocol.
If the deceased is still at the location of their death
Contact Sussex Police on 101 with details of the adult and how their death meets the criteria for the adult death protocol.
The police will decide if it meets the criteria. They will pass the details to first line police responders, who will visit the location of the body.
If the deceased died somewhere else
Fill out a referral form, if the person:
- died somewhere else, but you have information about it after their death; or
- died later and you think the case meets the criteria.
Complete the Adult death protocol referral form.
Email the form to the correct police Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) as soon as possible. The email address is on the form.
The process
The police will review the information to decide if the case meets the adult death protocol criteria. If it does, the MASH will set up an Initial Joint Agency Meeting (IJAM) within 24 hours.
This meeting is very important to ensure that all the agencies work together well. The MASH detective inspector will chair the meeting. It will include representatives from the:
- police
- NHS
- local authority
- other agencies that knew the person.
This meeting should happen within 24 hours of the death. Gather information before the meeting so that everyone can share what they know.
What happens next?
Agencies will work on their actions from the meeting with the lead agency overseeing the work.
If necessary, the lead agency will arrange and chair a follow-up meeting within 6 weeks to check on the progress and learning from the case. This will help us understand what happened in this specific case and how we can improve our systems for dealing with these situations in the future.
Learning check
- Do you understand the criteria that means a case may need to use the adult death protocol?
- Do you know what action to take if the criteria are met?
