ABSTRACT
Much has been written about the importance of inter-professional work. In the health and social care literature different terminology is used to describe how different professionals work together, such as inter-professional; inter-agency; multi-professional and multi-disciplinary. These terms can refer to different professionals working in one team for one organisation but can also refer to professionals from different organisations working together for a common purpose. One example of this is adult safeguarding. There has been clear government directive since the publication of No Secrets (Department of Health and Home Offi ce, 2000) towards partnership working in adult safeguarding (DH, 2010). Local areas have developed this guidance into joint working strategies. In Leeds, the Leeds Safeguarding Adult Partnership was established to determine a multi-agency procedure which protects adults who may need support to maintain their independence and well-being, and who are unable to protect themselves from harm (Leeds Safeguarding Adult Partnership, 2013). All local health and social care organisations across all sectors of provision (public, private and voluntary) are
expected to follow the procedure and engage in the joint working strategy. The joint safeguarding procedure should be explicitly part of their own organisational policies and procedures.
