Safeguarding Policy

Last Updated October 2024

SEDSConnective Safeguarding Policy

1. Aim of Policy

Everyone has the right to be safe from harm and must be able to live free from fear of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

The purpose of this policy is to outline the duty and responsibility of volunteers and employees within SEDSConnective in relation to Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults. The policy aims to provide with an overview of safeguarding and the basic steps of which all volunteers and employees must be aware.

Safeguarding means protecting people's health, wellbeing, and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect.

2. What is abuse?
The characteristics of adult abuse can take a number of forms and cause victims to suffer pain, fear and distress reaching well beyond the time of the actual incident(s). It may consist of a single act or repeated acts and can occur in any relationship and may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the individual. The Department of Health in its ‘No Secrets’ 2000 report suggests the following as the main types of abuse:

Physical abuse - including hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medication, restraint, or inappropriate sanctions.

Sexual abuse - including rape and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the vulnerable adult has not consented or could not consent or was pressured into consenting.

Psychological abuse - including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation or withdrawal from services or supportive networks.

Financial or material abuse - including theft, fraud, exploitation, pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.

Neglect and acts of omission - including ignoring medical or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.

Discriminatory abuse - including race, sex, culture, religion, politics, that is based on a person’s disability, age or sexuality and other forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment, hate crime.

Institutional abuse - Institutional abuse although not a separate category of abuse in itself, requires specific mention simply to highlight that adults placed in any kind of care home or day care establishment are potentially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. This can be especially so when care standards and practices fall below an acceptable level as detailed in the contract specification.

Multiple forms of abuse - Multiple forms of abuse may occur in an ongoing relationship or an abusive service setting to one person, or to more than one person at a time, making it important to look beyond single incidents or breaches in standards, to underlying dynamics and patterns of harm. Any or all of these types of abuse may be perpetrated as the result of deliberate intent and targeting of vulnerable people, negligence or ignorance.

3. Domestic abuse/violence

Home Office definition 2012 - Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence, or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.

4. The role of volunteers, officers, and trustees

All volunteers and trustees of SEDSConnective have a have a duty to promote the welfare and safety of vulnerable adults.

Volunteers and trustees may receive disclosures of abuse and observe vulnerable adults who are at risk. This policy will enable volunteers and employees to make informed and confident responses to specific adult protection issues.

5. Procedure in the event of a complaint or allegation

It is important that everyone is protected from abuse. All complaints, allegations or suspicions must be taken seriously. You do not require evidence in order to raise a concern. Even a feeling may assist an ongoing protection plan.

Confidentiality should be assured unless it puts the individual or another person at risk of harm. In which case, the Safeguarding Officer should be informed.

The following procedure must be followed whenever an allegation of abuse is made or when there is a suspicion that a vulnerable adult has been abused.

A full record shall be made as soon as possible of the nature of the allegation and any other relevant information. This must include information in relation to the date, the time, the place where the alleged abuse happened, the names of others present, the name of the complainant and, where different, the name of the adult who has allegedly been abused, the nature of the alleged abuse, a description of any injuries observed, the account which has been given of the allegation

(see Appendix 1).

In the event of an incident or disclosure:

DO:

Make sure the individual is safe
Assess whether emergency services are required and if needed call them.

Listen
Offer support and reassurance
Ascertain and establish the basic facts, without asking leading questions
Make careful notes and obtain agreement on them
Ensure notation of dates, time and persons present are correct and agreed
Take all necessary precautions to preserve forensic evidence for the police forensic team.
Explain areas of confidentiality. If the individual or another person is at risk of harm, the Safeguarding Office should be informed.
Support and guidance
Explain the procedure to the individual making the allegation
Remember the need for ongoing support.

DON’T:

Confront the alleged abuser

Be judgmental or voice your own opinion
Be dismissive of the concern
Investigate or interview beyond that which is necessary to establish the basic facts
Disturb or destroy possible forensic evidence
Consult with persons not directly involved with the situation
Ask leading questions
Assume Information
Make promises
Ignore the allegation
Elaborate in your notes. You may record on your phone, if the other person agrees, but this data MUST be passed directly to the Safeguarding Officer and then deleted from your phone.
Panic

It is important to remember that the person who first encounters a case of alleged abuse is not responsible for deciding whether abuse has occurred. This is a task for the professional adult protection agencies, following a referral from the Safeguarding Officer.

Any suspicion, allegation or incident of abuse must be reported on that working day where possible.

Safeguarding concerns that involve sexual abuse, Female genital mutilation (‘female circumcision’), and criminal acts MUST be reported to the police on 999 by the individual before any other action.

The Safeguarding Officer shall email or telephone and report the matter to the appropriate local adult social services duty social worker. A written record of the date and time of the report shall be made, and the report must include the name and position of the person to whom the matter is reported.

6. Confidentiality

Vulnerable adult protection raises issues of confidentiality which must be clearly understood by all. Volunteers and Trustees have a responsibility to share relevant information about the protection of vulnerable adults with investigative agencies and adult social services. Clear boundaries of confidentiality will be communicated to all.

All personal information regarding a vulnerable adult will be kept confidential. All written records will be kept in a secure area for a specific time as identified in data protection guidelines.

If an adult confides in a member or volunteer and requests that the information is kept secret, it is important that the member/volunteer tells the adult sensitively that he or she has a responsibility to refer cases of alleged abuse to the appropriate agencies. Within that context, the adult must, however, be assured that the matter will be disclosed only to people who need to know about it.

Where possible, consent must be obtained from the adult before sharing personal information with third parties. In some circumstances obtaining consent may be neither possible nor desirable as the safety and welfare of the vulnerable adult is the priority.

Where a disclosure has been made, the member/volunteer must let the adult know the position regarding their role and what action they will have to take as a result. The member/volunteer must assure the adult that they will keep them informed of any action to be taken and why. The adult’s involvement in the process of sharing information must be fully considered and their wishes and feelings taken into account.

7 Role of designated Safeguarding Officer

The Trustees deal with all instances involving adult protection that arise within the organisation. They will respond to all safeguarding concerns and enquiries.

The designated safeguarding lead for SEDSConnective is the Safeguarding Officer, who can be contacted via email on monica@sedsconnective.org

All Trustees are familiar with the organisation’s safeguarding procedures.

Signature: Date: 01.05.2022

Name: Monica Collins

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Appendix 1

Incident Report Form

Examples of safeguarding issues include bullying, radicalisation, sexual exploitation and abuse, grooming, allegations against members, self-harm, forced marriage and FGM (female genital mutilation).

Any report about a safeguarding issue MUST be in writing, preferably email to the Safeguarding Officer or to general@sedsconnective.org

Date

Time

Name of individual cause for concern is about

Age (if known)

Address (if known)

Describe your concern and action taken

Observations to support cause for concern

Description and location of any visible marks, bruising etc.

Names of any witnesses (where appropriate)

Name of alleged abuser, (if known

Name of person completing form

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us:

By email: general@sedsconnective.org