2 minute read
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
from LUHFT Life - issue 5
by LUHFT
This month National Safeguarding Adult Week is highlighting ‘Creating Safer Cultures’ ensuring organisations take steps to minimise harm and ensure correct policies and procedures are in place.
Our Safeguarding Team plays an essential role in supporting all of our patients who at risk of abuse, as well as our staff who need personal advice and support. “We’re a small team of 10, providing a single support service across the Trust, with bases at the Royal and Aintree so we can easily provide advice and guidance to patients when we need to. People often forget that we’re not just an adult Trust, 16 and 17-year-olds also come to our A&E and younger children also attend our clinics, so we provide support for children, teenagers and young adults too,” said Deborah Ward, Associate Director Nursing – Safeguarding. “Some patients may be at increased risk of harm, both in the community and in the hospital, because their health condition or disability makes them more dependent on others. They may need extra support to safeguard them from the risk of abuse or neglect. The Mental Capacity Act ensures our staff make the best decisions in the interest of the patient. There are many ways in which someone can be abused.” Our Safeguarding team also works closely with other agencies, such as social services and the police, to ensure any adults at risk receive the correct help and care during their hospital stay and once they’re discharged. Figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales show 1.6 million women and 757,000 men had experienced domestic abuse between March 2019 and March 2020. During the COVID-19 lockdown those figures are likely to have increased as there was a 65% increase in calls to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline between April and June 2020.
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We believe safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. I always tell people there’s never a silly question – if staff have a worry or concern about what could be a safeguarding issue, contact us.
“Also, if staff have a personal concern they can come and speak to us and when they’re ready we can put them in contact with domestic abuse services in the local community. They can also seek advice from Occupational Health. “National figures show around 1 in 14 health professionals report domestic abuse. So, if you think about the amount of staff we have, that’s a huge number of people potentially experiencing domestic abuse and needing support.”
