Dr Stephanie Petrie, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Social Justice at the University of Liverpool, has been appointed as Independent Chair of Wirral’s Adult Safeguarding Board (WASB).
The Board is made up of partners and stakeholders working closely together to protect vulnerable people from abuse and harm.
Dr Petrie said: “Protecting the most vulnerable in our society is a mark of a caring society. Protecting children, quite rightly, receives significant media and public attention but it can overshadow the fact there are adults out there who are at risk of not only physical abuse but exploitation in its many forms.
“Working with the multi-agency Adult Safeguarding Board and Howard Cooper, interim Director of Adult Social Services on Wirral, I see my role as pivotal in developing and delivering improvements that will help Wirral Council and its’ partners safeguard adults in every setting.”
Dr Petrie’s appointment was announced by Wirral’s Department of Adult Social Services which has the lead for Safeguarding Adults and is responsible for the organisation and facilitation of the Safeguarding Adults Board.
Welcoming Dr Petrie, Cllr Bob Moon, Wirral’s Cabinet Member for Social Care and Inclusion, said: “We are looking forward to working with the new independent chair in line with government guidance to build an even stronger safeguarding partnership.”
Wirral’s Cabinet and Wirral Council now has a system of twice yearly reviews for adult safeguarding which are overseen by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.
Notes to editors:
1. The University of Liverpool is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive institutions in the UK. It attracts collaborative and contract research commissions from a wide range of national and international organisations valued at more than £98 million annually.