Spotlight on: our Safeguarding team

Safeguarding is about the safety and well-being of all patients and providing additional measures for those least able to protect themselves from harm or abuse.

It is a key priority of our hospital as we expect all patients and relatives to experience a safe, sound and supportive service that is sensitive to their needs.

“We are committed to preventing and identifying any abuse of children, young people and adults with care and support needs,” said Tina Chuma, Professional Lead for Safeguarding.

“Our role is to help to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of all who come to our hospital, with the additional aim of improving and enhancing the quality of life of anyone who has been victimised.

“Our role is also about supporting and advising colleagues to fulfil their safeguarding duties.”

Our Complex Health Hub follows the “Think Family Approach”: this is an approach where practitioners co-ordinate responses to families as a whole as opposed to looking at them individually – it’s about meeting a full range of needs within each family we’re supporting.

“Where there’s a child at risk often there’s an adult in need of help, and part of our role is to identify the concerns and examine the situation in its complexity so that the right referrals can be made and appropriate support can be provided,” added Tina.

“If colleagues have concerns about a patient they can contact us,” said Angela Johnson, Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner.

“We support colleagues to gather information and sometimes it means them going back and speaking to patients and families to better understand what they want or need.

“But the Safeguarding team is not at the hospital 24/7 and teams come into contact with complex cases all the time – especially in ED and Maternity. That’s why it is important for colleagues to know how to spot the signs of forms of abuse such as domestic abuse or neglect, for example.

“Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and, if in doubt, colleagues should seek help from their co-ordinators, discuss with clinicians or speak to us.”

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