What is the MASH?
Suffolk MASH receives and processes all safeguarding referrals of children and adults at risk of harm and abuse.
It consists of around 60 professionals from health, police, fire services, education, social care, probation, youth justice, mental health services and housing.
Most of the staff are based at Landmark House in Ipswich, with some designated professionals working remotely.
Why we need the MASH
The MASH was developed as a result of learning from previous experiences, especially from lessons highlighted by reviews of serious safeguarding incidents across the country.
A recurring theme of these reviews is the importance of information sharing and close working arrangements between relevant agencies.
The MASH model has been strongly endorsed in the Ofsted report Good practice by local safeguarding boards and the Munro review of child protection: a child-centred system.
The Care Act 2014 also highlights the benefits of a MASH, which includes specialist adult safeguarding professionals as a best practice example.