Home Visiting your hospitals Our services Our care & support Get involved Charity Get in touch Home » Our care and support » Safeguarding adults and children Safeguarding adults and children We want everyone who uses our services to feel safe. Our effective systems and processes help keep children and adults safe from abuse and neglect. We care about our patients and their families, and we’re committed to doing the right thing, regardless of legislation. What is safeguarding? It’s the right of every human being to live a life free from abuse and neglect. We all have a duty of care to protect adults and children from: physical abuse neglect discrimination sexual abuse financial abuse psychological abuse organisational abuse domestic abuse modern slavery self neglect. We work in partnership with local partners and individual agencies so that we can safeguard and support our local population. Our safeguarding systems and processes They help protect everyone who uses our services from improper treatment or abuse. These systems and processes help our staff to care for people properly and to report allegations of abuse as soon as they become aware of them. This means we can investigate quickly and appropriately. Robust governance arrangements help ensure that we fulfill our safeguarding responsibilities, and work effectively to safeguard patients under our care. Employing appropriate staff We help prevent unsuitable people from working with our patients, especially those who may be particularly vulnerable. We meet statutory requirements and ensure that all staff we employ meet the right level of checks with the national Disclosure and Barring Service before starting working with us. Staff training and policy reviews We review and update our safeguarding policies regularly and train our staff at the right level for their roles. We also make sure that staff fully understand their safeguarding responsibilities and have enough time, relevant support and training to carry out their jobs. We make sure that staff competencies meet national guidance documents and evidence. We monitor training compliance and quality via our safeguarding, and quality and governance committees. How we safeguard children We follow up with families and carers who do not bring their children to appointments. This means we can make sure that their care and health are not affected in any way. We work with the National Child Protection Information Sharing system to help us quickly identify children and families where there are known safeguarding concerns. Our safeguarding team The Trust’s Chief Executive accepts responsibility on behalf of the organisation for safeguarding. Our Chief Nurse is the executive lead for safeguarding and supports the Chief Executive. We have named professionals who provide training and support to our staff. They raise any concerns to the Chief Executive or Chief Nurse or offer assurances where appropriate. Policy documents You can read more in our safeguarding policies which cover: adult safeguarding safeguarding children the Mental Capacity Act visitor policy chaperone policy the safeguarding leadership team chaperoning patients modern slavery declaration. In this section How we support you Our quality and safety standards Safeguarding adults and children Patients with learning disabilities and autism Support for carers Contact 01296 315000 for all hospitals and services 01296 316042 for our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) (9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Email bht.pals@nhs.net) facebook-square- Bedford twitter-square- Bedford Useful information Our organisation Work with us Publications Get involved Accessibility Terms and conditions Press and media Privacy notice Contact us Our charity Birth choices Children and young people Research & innovation Publications © 2021 | Site by Phew Close COVID-19 safety measures remain in place Safety measures remain in place in our Trust – Visitor restrictions still apply and everyone in our hospitals is required to wear a facemask, maintain social distancing and follow NHS safety measures. Cookies on this sites This website uses cookies to help us improve your user experience. Our cookie policy explains what we use cookies for and why. If you continue to use our website, you will be providing your consent for us to use cookies. Read Cookie Policy I accept cookies from this site