Every day, EMED colleagues support patients and service users who may be vulnerable because of their age, disability, health, communication needs or personal circumstances.
Everyone has the right to feel safe, to be treated with dignity and respect and to be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and harm.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Our colleagues have an important role in recognising when someone may be at risk, responding appropriately and helping to ensure concerns reach the people and organisations best placed to provide support.
What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights and helping them to live free from abuse, neglect and harm.
It involves recognising when someone may be at risk, responding appropriately and sharing concerns with the relevant organisations so that appropriate support and protection can be provided.
Safeguarding governance at EMED
Safeguarding is embedded within our quality and patient safety arrangements.
Our Quality and Patient Safety Team oversees safeguarding across EMED, working alongside Operational Leads and colleagues throughout our services to support appropriate identification, reporting, escalation and learning.
This provides organisational oversight of safeguarding and helps us identify themes, share learning and continually strengthen the way we protect and support the people who use our services.
Safeguarding can affect anyone.
Our responsibilities include safeguarding children and young people, adults at risk and people whose health, disability or personal circumstances may make them particularly vulnerable to abuse, neglect, exploitation or harm.
This may include:
- Children and young people
- Older people
- People living with dementia
- People with learning disabilities
- Neurodivergent people
- People experiencing mental ill health
- People with disabilities or additional communication needs
- People experiencing abuse, neglect, exploitation or other circumstances that may place them at risk
We also recognise the important role that families and carers can play in identifying concerns and helping us understand an individual’s needs and circumstances.
• Physical abuse
• Emotional or phsychological abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Neglect
• Domestic abuse
• Modern slavery and human trafficking
• Financial or material abuse
• Self-neglect
• Exploitation
• Radicalisation
EMED's role is not to investigate safeguarding concerns. Where a concern is identified through our work, our responsibility is to recognise it, respond appropriately and ensure that relevant information is referred to the appropriate safeguarding agencies so that they can consider what action or support may be required.
• NHS organisations
• Local authorities and safeguarding teams
• Adult Safeguarding Boards
• Safeguarding Children Partnerships
• Social care services
• Police services
• Community and voluntary organisations
• Other healthcare providers By sharing information appropriately and working collaboratively, we help ensure people receive the protection and support they need.
Safeguarding during patient transport
Transport can be a particularly important part of a person’s healthcare journey from a safeguarding perspective.
Our colleagues spend time with patients in their homes, healthcare settings and during journeys and may sometimes notice concerns or circumstances that are not immediately visible to other professionals.
Whether supporting someone attending dialysis, travelling to a hospital appointment, accessing mental health services or returning home following treatment, our colleagues remain alert to potential safeguarding concerns and know how to report and escalate them appropriately.
EMED colleagues have access to a dedicated Incident Reporting Line to help them report safeguarding and other patient safety concerns identified through their work.
Based within our Shrewsbury contact centre, the service is managed by colleagues trained in safeguarding and incident management.
• Advice and guidance
• Timely escalation of concerns
• Support where concerns involve vulnerable patients
• Appropriate recording of safeguarding-related incidents
The Incident Reporting Team works alongside our Quality and Patient Safety Team and Operational Leads to ensure safeguarding concerns are appropriately managed and escalated. This helps ensure concerns are addressed promptly and consistently across our services.
What to do if you have a safeguarding concern
If someone is in immediate danger
If you believe someone is in immediate danger or a crime is taking place, call 999.
If you are worried about a child or adult who may be at risk
Safeguarding concerns should normally be reported to the safeguarding service within the local authority where the person lives. Your local council will provide information about how to report concerns about a child or adult at risk.
If you are unsure which local authority to contact, you can find your local council through GOV.UK.
If your concern relates to EMED
If you are a patient, family member, carer or member of the public and your safeguarding concern relates to an EMED service, journey or interaction with one of our colleagues, please contact us so that we can ensure it is reviewed and escalated appropriately.
For EMED colleagues
EMED colleagues should report safeguarding concerns identified through their work using our established internal safeguarding and incident reporting processes, including the dedicated Incident Reporting Line.
Our commitment
Safeguarding is an essential part of providing safe, compassionate and person-centred care.
We will continue to work with patients, families, colleagues, healthcare partners and safeguarding organisations to recognise risk, respond appropriately, learn from concerns and help protect the people we support.