What does MASH stand for in safeguarding? If this is something you’ve wondered about, you are not the only one. Every day, many thousands of parents, teachers, social workers and health care professionals in the UK have the same question. Knowing this system may be the difference for someone in your community who is vulnerable. The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is one of the key safeguarding tools in England at present.
A MASH is a coordinated group of practitioners from various agencies. These comprise the police, children’s social care, health and education services. They are all in one location and support each other with information and rapid and informed decisions regarding those at risk. This system was developed to prevent gaps between services for vulnerable children and adults.
In England, local authority areas have their own MASH teams. The internal structure will differ from region to region, but the basic idea remains the same: to convene the right people at the right time. This guide covers all the essentials of how MASH operates, who is involved, and the implications for concerned parents, front-line professionals and students studying safeguarding.
By the end of this blog, you will be able to clearly see the MASH system and how to put it into practice. You will find out what it is, where to refer someone and why this is important in ensuring that people are kept safe throughout the UK.
What Does MASH Stand for in Safeguarding?
MASH is an acronym for Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub. It became a widely used term in England after a series of child protection failures were identified in the early 2000s by government-led reviews. In these reviews, a single salient pattern emerged: services that failed to communicate with one another. Information was held by one organisation and was readily available to other organisations; action should have been taken. The MASH model was created to address that issue – allowing professionals to be co-located and information to be shared quickly and securely.
So, what does MASH stand for in safeguarding, in simple terms? Consider it a “one-stop ” for professionals from police, social care, health, and schools to come together and address concerns about the same individual at one time. Instead, the MASH team does all the work in one place, rather than one agency referring it, then another agency checking their records, then contacting other agencies, etc. It is a paradigm shift in decision-making for safeguarding.
The first point of contact, or “front door,” for seeking help with a concern about a child or vulnerable adult will usually be the hub. Referral by a teacher, GP, police officer or the public in general. The MASH team follows up on the concerns about the records of all partner agencies. It then makes the best judgment call regarding the best response. This could be to provide early help, make a child protection referral, undertake a police-led investigation, or do nothing else.
The strength of the MASH model is that it is so fast and so widespread. All the agencies are housed in the same physical or virtual environment, so what used to take days to decide can now be done in hours. Each partner has their own set of information to contribute. A school nurse might be able to know about a child’s health. The police at the home address may keep records of domestic abuse. There may have been a previous Social Care referral. All these data items collectively provide a much stronger view of risk than any agency alone.
Why Was MASH Created?
The MASH model didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. This concept was formed from tragedy. Deals in which agencies failed to share information were revealed in high-profile cases in 2000, when Victoria Climbié was murdered, and 2012, when Daniel Pelka was killed. The children had had involvement with more than one service. But none of those services had all the information about what was going on at home. Each agency worked in isolation and didn’t know what the others knew.
These cases led to government-commissioned reviews, which recommended that multi-agency working is totally transformed. Since 2006, the statutory guidance ” Working Together to Safeguard Children has been published and revised to create a duty on agencies to work together. It was at this time that local safeguarding children boards started to test co-located team working, and the concept of the MASH emerged. Many LAs in England were establishing their own hubs by the early 2010s.
In July 2014, the Home Office published a formal review of MASH models. It validated that MASH support helps professionals connect the dots and better comprehend risk. It identified that more risk is identified earlier, information is shared, decisions are made collectively, and action is coordinated when work is done with multiple agencies. Importantly, the review also identified that multi-agency working should not be viewed as a substitute for the responsibility of any one agency to safeguard a child or vulnerable adult, but as a complement to other agencies, strengthening the system.
Nowadays, MASHs can be found in most places in England, from Hampshire and Oxfordshire to Redbridge and Norfolk areas. While each performs its functions somewhat differently, in recognition of local needs, they all have the same objectives – to make safeguarding faster, smarter and more joined-up. The establishment of MASH is a breakthrough in the UK safeguarding field over the past 20 years.
Who is Involved in a MASH?
A MASH is a group of people from a variety of statutory and voluntary agencies. The precise membership will depend on the specific local authority areas, and a central group of agencies will nearly always be available. To understand the model, it is important to get an idea of the kinds of people who are in the hub and the skills and knowledge they bring.
Children’s Social Care
Most MASH teams are made up of children’s services social workers. They are the team leaders who ensure that the triage and assessment process for the referred child is completed. If a concern is raised, it will then be assessed by a social worker in conjunction with information from other agencies. They then decide whether to conduct a section 47 child protection enquiry, a child and family assessment, or provide early help. Their knowledge and experience of risk assessment and families is at the heart of their MASH operations. The hub would not be able to operate as it does without their legal power and casework knowledge.
Police
The police officers and civilian staff working within MASH can provide intelligence about individuals which is not currently available to social care and health staff. This may involve records of domestic incidents at their home address or criminal records, intelligence about gangs or child protection alerts from police call-outs to a home. With fellow officers in the room with you, this can be done quickly, legally, and in full context. In Westminster, colleagues from the MASH comprise Metropolitan Police officers, social care representatives, and NHS representatives, who work together on a day-to-day basis.
Health Services
The health professionals within the MASH can be NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) staff, health visitors, midwives or nurses. They are asked to share information about the health history of a child or adult that may be relevant to concerns about their safety. This could be appointments not kept, notes from a GP for unexplained injuries or notes by a mother for her mental health during her pre-birth assessment. There is a clear statutory responsibility for the NHS to be involved in multi-agency front-door services, including the MASH. When NHS England advises on involvement with health, it’s clear that it should be proactive rather than reactive.
Education
In Safeguarding cases, including those involving a child, the original referrers are often schools, colleges, or other educational settings. The first adults that children and young people come into contact with who suspect that they are not in the right place or circumstances are often teachers and the appointed designated safeguarding leads (DSLs). Schools don’t necessarily have to be co-located to be a virtual partner in the MASH, but are contacted as part of the information-gathering process. The information they have about a child’s attendance, behaviour, wellbeing and friendships can be invaluable for a full risk assessment.
Other Partner Agencies
MASH teams can vary by region to include probation, housing, the youth offending team, the voluntary sector, early help teams, or fire & rescue. The virtual partners here in Hampshire are the Community Rehabilitation Company, the fire and rescue service and the South Central Ambulance Service. The hub in Westminster is also virtually connected with the UK Border Agency, domestic violence services and drug and alcohol services. This broad-based network helps ensure that relevant information is not missed.
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How Does a MASH Work?
Anyone working with children and/or vulnerable adults needs a working understanding of how MASH operates day to day. While it’s daunting at first glance, there is a clear, logical progression. Below is a typical MASH referral in England.
Step 1: A Referral Is Made
There is an indication of concern for a child or vulnerable adult. This could be the teacher, GP, police officer, neighbour, family member or member of the public. There are some places where the members of the public can make a direct referral. Usually, a concern is made on a particular Inter-Agency Referral Form (IARF) by a professional. For instance, Hampshire’s MASH has a standardised digital referral that professionals working with children and families in the county can use. Urgent referrals can also be made by phone, in and out of office hours.
Step 2: The Concern Is Triaged
When a referral arrives at the MASH, the team reviews it. At this stage, the focus needs to be on the urgency of the concern: Does the person need immediate help? Is it something that needs to be addressed within 24-72 hours, or can it wait until the next day? All professionals co-located contribute to the triage process. A child’s referral can trigger a check for domestic abuse by the police officer, a health check of medical records by the health professional and a check by the social worker for past child referrals — all simultaneously.
Step 3: Information Is Gathered and Shared
At the core of the MASH model is this. An “under the hood” audit is performed at each agency. This involves searching its own records for any information that might be relevant to the person the referral concerns. This is then disseminated lawfully and securely to the other members of the MASH team. At this point, the family is not alerted, which is important if there are concerns about the child’s safety, such as suspected sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and violence.
Step 4: A Decision is Made
The information is then gathered and discussed among the MASH team, who agree on the most appropriate response. It is prepared jointly to take into account all the information. What may happen at this point is that no further action is taken, the safeguarding is ‘signposted’ (signposting is a term for referring to early help or universal services), an early help assessment is undertaken, one by social care, or a section 47 enquiry, which is a formal child protection investigation. This decision is based on the identified risk and the needs of the person involved.
Step 5: The Case is Referred On
The case is then forwarded to the most appropriate team or agency after the decision has been made at the MASH. In child protection cases, this refers to the social care assessment team. In a criminal case, the police are the leaders. Early help needs – families are linked to the appropriate support service. The MASH is not an organisation for long-term management of cases, but rather a short-term decision-making hub. To ensure a timely, proportionate and coordinated response and appropriate notification.
Does MASH Cover Adults Too?
The majority of people would think of MASH in relation to the safeguarding of children, and indeed, many MASH teams were initially established with children in mind. But a large proportion of MASHs in England also provide for vulnerable adults. The MASH in Hampshire is responsible for receiving concerns relating to children and adults and for liaising with the Contact Assessment Resolution Team (CART) for adult services. The MASH is explicitly defined as a multi-agency collaboration involving both adults and children.
This includes vulnerable adults who may be at risk of domestic abuse, financial abuse, neglect or abuse by carers and might be referred to a MASH. Adults can be referred to the MASH service if they are in a mental health crisis, have learning disabilities or a physical vulnerability. As is done with children, the hub aggregates data from various agencies to create a more complete risk/need profile and make a decision on response.
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The Care Act 2014 provides for a duty on local authorities to make enquiries if they suspect a vulnerable adult is at risk of abuse or neglect. The MASH model helps fulfil this by providing a quick, multi-agency mechanism for gathering initial information and making decisions. Those working in adult social care within MASH can readily access police intelligence, health records, and housing information, all of which can inform their responses.
Not all areas have fully developed their children’s/adults’ MASH services. Separate teams are in place for children and adult issues at some locations, although the teams are co-located. What is important is that the principle of information sharing and joint decision-making is part of the response, regardless of the age of the person at risk, whether 2 or 82 years.
Data Sharing and the Legal Framework Behind Mash Information Sharing
Professionals and members of the public have raised concerns about data protection as one of the most common issues relating to the MASH. Is it legal for agencies to be sharing information about people without their knowledge of others? Yes — but only implemented in appropriate circumstances, within the proper legal structure and for a legitimate safeguarding role.
Sharing of personal data within a MASH is based on several pieces of legislation. The Children Acts 1989 and 2014, the Care Act 2014, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). These laws provide a clear legal framework for information sharing when necessary to protect someone from harm. This has been termed as the ‘public interest’ or ‘vital interests’ justification of GDPR.
Westminster City Council has a comprehensive privacy notice for its MASH that clearly explains the information collected, how it will be processed, and with whom it will be shared. The MASH can be used to store and handle information regarding adults and children involved in a referral, even if they are not mentioned in the original concern. This is because details about family members/carers, and other people in the household, can all be part of a risk assessment. Families are typically notified of involvement in MASH, except when such notification could be more detrimental to a party’s safety.
The government has had this message loud and clear. At the review of 2014 MASH, Norman Baker, former Minister for Crime Prevention, said: “If it’s a choice between data protection and children’s protection, child protection must take precedence. This is not to say that data protection laws are disregarded. It does not mean that professionals can refuse to share information with another if a child or vulnerable adult is at risk, on the basis that the information is ‘data protected’. The MASH framework provides a structure for sharing information lawfully and appropriately, with appropriate accountability.
What Are the Outcomes and Benefits of the Mash Model for Safeguarding in the UK?
Overall, the MASH model has proven to have a great impact on safeguarding practice throughout England. The professionals working in the system, the agencies that contribute to the system and, most importantly, the children and adolescents for whom the system is meant benefit from these advantages. Let’s dive into the local authority evidence on MASH outcomes.
Faster and More Coordinated Responses
A consistent finding from local MASH evaluations is that it significantly impacts the speed of response to safeguarding issues. What used to take several days of cases moving through individual agencies can now be triaged, with information gathered and a decision made within hours. The MASH is seen to provide a quick, coordinated and consistent response to concerns in Hampshire. This speed may be especially critical if it results in additional injury or even death in high-risk situations.
Better Quality Decisions
All agencies share information simultaneously, enhancing safeguarding decisions. A single piece of information is unlikely to elicit a protective response on its own. However, when all these factors are visible in one place, a team can see a pattern of risk when a child misses a GP appointment, is worried about their school attendance, receives a call about a domestic incident, and has a previous social care referral. This complete picture can lead to better-informed decisions about the level of intervention required for the individual case.
Reduction in Inappropriate Referrals
Advantages of the MASH model that are not always fully known include fewer inappropriate or unnecessary referrals. With the benefit of the full picture, the multi-agency team can triage the details of a concern, making it far easier to ascertain whether it exceeds the threshold for formal intervention or early help. A main impact identified by Hampshire’s MASH is a decrease in inappropriate referrals and re-referrals. This not only saves time and resources for all partner agencies but also prevents any unnecessary intrusion on families.
Improved Information Sharing
Improvement in the lawful and appropriate sharing of information between agencies may be the most basic of benefits. Before MASH, there was a degree of unpredictability in information exchange among police, social care, and health, with some exchanges denied for data protection reasons. The MASH framework clarifies the processes, agreed legal pathways, and the mindset of collaboration for sharing to become the norm, and not the exception. Alongside this structural change, this cultural change is equally significant for improving long-term safeguarding outcomes.
Early Intervention and Prevention
The MASH model enables greater focus on early help. Not all concerns need to be child protection issues. In many cases, a family requires practical help and support, such as parenting, housing, and mental health care, rather than a statutory investigation. This means that families are in touch with the right support sooner, by identifying these cases at the earliest possible stage of the MASH process. This initial intervention can help avoid issues becoming more serious and the need for a formal child protection intervention.
How to Make a Referral to a MASH?
Anyone with concerns about a child or vulnerable adult must know how to refer to the MASH. The procedure is slightly different in each local authority area, but similar throughout England. Here’s the information you need.
In any case of serious or imminent danger, always dial 999 first. Don’t wait for the Mash referral process. Emergency response services, such as police and ambulance services, are available 24 hours a day. A MASH referral may be introduced into the overall response once the immediate risk is addressed.
Most local authority MASH teams can be contacted during normal office hours for non-emergency issues. For help and advice on Hampshire’s MASH, contact them during working hours; for urgent concerns outside those hours, contact them directly. When the offices are closed, most areas will have an out-of-hours number to call with emergency contact details. Please refer to your local authority’s website for the latest contact information.
Most professionals, such as teachers, GPs, nurses, police officers and social workers, will typically have a referral form to use. In Hampshire, this will be the Inter-Agency Referral Form (IARF), which is completed electronically via a secure online portal. For referral forms, provide as much information as possible. Specify what the concern is, the name and birthdate of the person at risk, other individuals involved and contact details for the identification of the reporter so that the MASH team can follow up with you.
Members of the public can also reach the MASH. It’s not necessary to be a professional to raise a concern. Do not hesitate to contact the Police non-emergency line (101) or the local Children’s services phone number if you have concerns about a child or neighbour, and to explain your concern. No proof is required — description of what you saw or heard is required. Then it’s the MASH team’s task to investigate and determine the appropriate response. Save a life by speaking up.
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How Does MASH Differ from Other Safeguarding Structures in the UK?
There are numerous structures and processes involved in safeguarding in England, and it is easy to get confused about the MASH with other related bodies. To help understand the role of MASH in the wider safeguarding landscape.
The MASH is not the same as a Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP), formerly known as a Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). SCPs are strategic groups responsible for safeguarding governance in local authority areas. Sets policy, reviews practice, analyses,s and publishes reports. It does not accept referrals and/or individual cases. In contrast, the MASH is an operational team that processes referrals daily and makes individual safeguarding decisions.
The MASH is not a Child Protection Conference. A conference will be held where a child has been identified as at risk of serious harm. It contacts all the persons who work with the child and the family and creates a child protection plan. The MASH is before this – it’s the filter that a concern must fall through before it becomes a conference. Numerous issues that enter the MASH will be worked out at triage and will not go to a conference. Other parts of the safeguarding system are closely related, but distinct from early help services. Families in need of help, whose concerns fall short of the threshold for statutory child protection action, are offered early help. The MASH is proactive in signposting families to early help providers as a result of the triage process. MASH is positioned in the middle of a spectrum of help, ranging from universal early help (one end) to emergency child protection (the other end).
FAQ
1. What Does MASH Stand for in Safeguarding, and Is It the Same Everywhere in England?
MASH is a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub. Although consistent at an England level, each MASH is organised differently depending on the LA area. Some of these are geographically joined, with police, social care and health professionals within the same building. Others work virtually or in a hybrid setting. The basic elements – information sharing, shared decision making, coordinated response – don’t change from place to place. Please refer to your local council’s website for information on how your local Mash works.
2. Who Can Make a Referral to the MASH, and Do I Need Evidence?
Any individual, including the public and professionals, can make referrals to MASH. There is no requirement to have evidence to raise a concern. It is important to be aware that if you have seen or heard anything that concerns you about a child or vulnerable adult, you should report it. It is the MASH team’s job to gather information and assess risk levels. Detail, detail, detail – names, dates, what you saw, etc., will help the team respond effectively. Always dial 999 if the person is in immediate danger.
3. Will the Family Be Told if I Make a Referral to the MASH?
Most families are notified when a referral is made, although this is not always immediate. In the first phase of information gathering, the MASH team works behind the scenes, accessing agency records before contacting the family. Protects the safety of the person at risk when initial contact may heighten risk. Professionals will typically tell families once the appropriate response has been decided. Each case is handled individually, depending on the degree of risk it poses.
4. How Long Does the MASH Process Take?
The MASH will be a rapid response system. Urgent referrals are processed within 24 hours (often earlier) in most areas. In a “life-threatening” situation, there is an immediate need for a response. A decision can be made within 1-3 working days for lower-level concerns. One of the main benefits of the MASH model is the speed at which the process can take place, thus avoiding delays such as enduring with one agency for days on end before being referred to another.
5. Is MASH used for Adults as Well as Children in the UK?
Yes, the MASH will play a role in addressing concerns relating to children and vulnerable adults across many local authority areas. MASH was initially designed for child protection and is now extended in some areas, such as Hampshire and Norfolk, to incorporate adult safeguarding. There is also the same principle of combining information from various levels of government to determine risk and determine the appropriate response. The legal processes for adult safeguarding are set out in the Care Act (2014), alongside the Children Acts, which set out the procedures for child protection.
Conclusion
The pressure to protect can’t be greater. Agencies work in collaboration and not in isolation – children and adults are protected from serious harm each year thanks to this. This joined-up approach covers the MASH model in its centre. What does MASH stand for in safeguarding? Isn’t it merely about professional knowledge; it’s about public safety.
A Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub is a joint working group of the police, social care, health and education services. It offers a quick, intelligent and legally valid procedure for identifying issues, communicating and taking appropriate action. It has been shown to facilitate earlier intervention with families in need, increase information sharing, accelerate decision-making, and reduce inappropriate referrals.
If you are a teacher and witness a change in a pupil’s behaviour, a neighbour concerned about a child that lives next door, a GP concerned about a patient’s child or family, or a pupil learning about the UK safeguarding law, knowing how the MASH works puts you in a better position to take informed actions. Don’t wait till you are sure. Raise the concern. Let the MASH team do the rest.
