Review Opportunities

North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adult Board is seeking to identify an independent reviewer to complete a newly commissioned Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR).

Case Overview

‘Anita’ was a 75-year-old woman, who lived alone in flat following the death of her Mother, 14 years prior. Both Anita and her mother were known to Housing services for hoarding tendencies.

Anita was an academically minded woman, who had always preferred to live a somewhat isolated life, although this became worse during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Anita would not leave the property, but did have a close friend who would bring her shopping and leave it outside for her.

In the two weeks prior to Anita’s death, neighbours noticed that the shopping that had been left outside for her was not being brought into the property by Anita and they were concerned that she wasn’t eating. This was reported to Police and Ambulance service who visited Anita on the 14^th of February 2025. The Ambulance service raised a safeguarding concern with local Health and Adult Services following this visit due to concerns that Anita refused them access and crew could see piles of rubbish both inside the property and outside. Ambulance crew had been able to speak to Anita, but could not ‘lay eyes on her’. Anita stated that she was able to mobilise and didn’t need anything.

Due to the setup of weekend services, there was a delay in acting upon the safeguarding referral and social care attended the property on the 18^th of February 2025. At this time they were very concerned for Anita’s welfare and requested Police and Fire service to force entry under PACE. Police and Fire Service assisted in getting Anita out of the home due to significant levels of hoarding, which appear to have trapped Anita. She was conveyed to hospital, however sadly Anita died very soon after arrival. The hospital safeguarding nurse reported that Anita appeared to be very malnourished and dehydrated.

The SAR subgroup members agreed that the criteria for a mandatory SAR under s44 were met due to:

• Anita having the appearance of care and support needs due to her mental health needs, difficulty managing nutrition and personal care, social isolation and extreme hoarding conditions rated an 8/9 on the hoarding scale by professionals.
• Concerns which are evident regarding how agencies worked together to keep her safe, both in the longer term and specifically in the acute period from being made aware of concerns for her welfare and access to food and drink and gaining access to her home and conveying her to hospital. It is felt that agencies “passed the buck”, did not look holistically at the situation and past concerns, did not appropriately consider concerns regarding Anita’s mental capacity and were delayed in commencing an effective multi agency response to the level of risk.

How to apply

Please submit the following:

• a covering letter
• Your CV 
• Provide contact details for two references
• Will need to confirm their independence by confirming there is no conflict of interest with the review.

Please express an initial interest in this opportunity by clicking here to send us a whats app message. You can also ask any questions and clarifications using the link as well. 

The deadline for receipt of your application is midnight 8th January.

Documents in support of your application will be received via our reviews inbox: [email protected]