East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is committed to protecting the safety and welfare of children, young people or adults at risk. It is their right to be kept safe from harm, abuse or neglect.

Everyone at the Trust has a responsibility for safeguarding. If you are worried about the safety or welfare of children, young people or adults at risk, you can talk to the clinical staff who will raise your concerns through our safeguarding channels.

Led by the Head of Safeguarding, the Trust has a dedicated specialist safeguarding team who are highly knowledgeable, skilled and experienced in relation to safeguarding matters.

The Safeguarding Team comprises Named Nurses, Named Doctor, Named Midwife, Specialist Safeguarding Practitioners for adults and children, Mental Capacity Act Lead, Specialist Nurse for Learning Disability and Autism, Safeguarding Officers and Administration support. Specialist safeguarding is enhanced by Safeguarding Champions across the Trust, who are made up of staff with additional skills, knowledge and training in relation to safeguarding. We also have established links with services who support those experiencing domestic abuse.

Safeguarding Training is mandatory within the Trust, and as such, Safeguarding is well embedded in to our everyday business as part of our SAFE, PERSONAL and EFFECTIVE care.

As a member of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and the Local safeguarding Adult Board (LSAB) and in line with multi-agency Pan Lancashire safeguarding children and adult policies and procedures, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust ensures that staff have appropriate policies, procedures, training and access to expert advice to ensure that those at risk are identified and when appropriate a referral is made to children or adult’s social care.

 

Safeguarding Children

Whilst Local authorities have a number of statutory functions under the 1989 and 2004 Children Acts and have overarching responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people in their area, everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play; “safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility”.

A child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places duties on a range of organisations, including NHS Trusts and individuals to ensure their functions, and any services that they contract out to others, are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

The arrangements that organisations should have in place that reflect the importance of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, are outlined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015.

There are 4 types of Child abuse recognised and defined with the children Act 1989 and Working together 2015 –

  • Emotional Abuse,
  • Physical Abuse,
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Neglect

Safeguarding Adults

The Care Act (2014) and statutory Care and Support Guidance sets clearly the criteria of when safeguarding duties to an adult apply:

  • The adults has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) and;
  • Is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
  • As a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect

Safeguarding means protecting an adults rights to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Making Safeguarding Personal is about having conversations with people about how we might respond in safeguarding situations in a way that enhances involvement, choice and control as well as improving quality of life, wellbeing and safety

There are six key principles that underpin all adult safeguarding work:

  • Empowerment
  • Prevention
  • Proportionality
  • Protection
  • Partnership
  • Accountability

Forms of Abuse

There are 10 forms of recognised abuse within The Care Act. Details are below:

  • Physical abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Sexual abuse
  • Psychological abuse
  • Financial or material abuse
  • Modern slavery
  • Discriminatory abuse
  • Organisational abuse
  • Neglect and acts of omission
  • Self-neglect

Contact Details:

If you wish to speak to someone at the hospital about a safeguarding matter please contact the clinical staff. Alternatively you can contact the Hospital Safeguarding Team between the hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday; or the Clinical Site Manager via the hospital Switchboard outside these hours

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust Safeguarding Team

Safeguarding Children: 01282 803125

Safeguarding Adults: 01254 732848

Out of Hours: 01254 263555 (Clinical Site Manager via switchboard)

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Safeguarding Teams

Safeguarding Children: 01254 666400

Safeguarding Adults: 01254 585949

Out of hours: Emergency Duty Team 01254 587547.

Lancashire County Council

Safeguarding Children: 0300 123 6720  (8am - 8pm)

Safeguarding Adults: 0300 123 6721 (8am - 8pm)

Out of hours: Emergency Duty 0300 123 6722 (8pm - 8am)