Torbay's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

The MASH has been implemented to safeguard Torbay’s children and families. It aims to provide the highest level of knowledge and analysis of all known intelligence and information across the safeguarding partnership to ensure all safeguarding activity and intervention is timely, proportionate and necessary.

The vision is to identify and make safe at the earliest opportunity all vulnerable people in our communities through the sharing of information and intelligence across the safeguarding partnership.

Torbay’s MASH aims to provide a more consistent, timely and co-ordinated multi-agency response to individual situations relating to welfare and safeguarding concerns to children and young people. The intent is to improve the quality of information sharing between agencies in order that decision making can be both more effective and more robust.

                                    MASH REFERRAL FORM DOWN LOAD ->  ->  ->  ->  ->  -> 

MASH focuses on three main functions:

• Victim identification and early intervention - working with Targeted Help to support children and young people whose needs do not meet the threshold for Specialist Children's' Social Care Services;
• Harm identification and reduction - this will be done by identifying children and young people experiencing the highest level of harm and making sure partners work together to support them with harm reduction strategies and services;
• Co-ordinating partner agencies working with Adults at Risk and vulnerable children.

Referrals by other professionals must be made to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) in one of the following ways:

• In writing, using the referral form above which can be emailed to mash@torbay.gov.uk.unless an emergency.
• In an emergency  in office hours By telephone, to Children's Social Care on 01803 208100;
• In an emergency outside office hours, by contacting the Emergency Duty Team 0300 456 4876 or the Police;
• If the child is known to have an allocated social worker, referrals should be made directly to the allocated worker or, in her/his absence, the manager or a duty officer in that team.