Safeguarding

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) has a statutory obligation and a duty of care to ensure that our patients and service users live free from harm and abuse.

Safeguarding means protecting people's health, wellbeing and human rights and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect: it is central to high quality healthcare.

It is also a fundamental requirement for registration and complying with the Care Quality Commission, Essential Standards for Quality and Safety.

What safeguarding means for people who use our care services

Safeguarding children and promoting their welfare includes:

  • Protecting them from maltreatment or things that are bad for their health or development.
  • Making sure they grow up in circumstances that allow safe and effective care.

If you are worried about any child and think they may be a victim of neglect or abuse, please contact:

Telephone: 01522 782 111

Reporting a child safeguarding concern.


Safeguarding adults includes:

  • Protecting their rights to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.
  • People and organisations working together to prevent the risk of abuse or neglect, and to stop them from happening.
  • Making sure people's wellbeing is promoted, taking their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs into account.

Adult abuse and neglect isn’t always obvious. If you suspect a vulnerable adult is suffering abuse or neglect in any way, report an adult safeguarding concern.

Telephone: 01522 782 155

Safeguarding Policies.

Safeguarding Declaration.

External Links

PREVENT.

Domestic Abuse Website.

LPFT Crisis Support.

Introduction

This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust has taken, and is continuing to take, to make sure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

Modern day slavery is the recruitment, movement, harboring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. Individuals may be trafficked into, out of or within the UK, and they may be trafficked for a number of reasons including sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude and organ harvesting. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is designed to consolidate various offences relating to human trafficking and slavery. The provisions in the act create a requirement for an annual statement to be prepared that demonstrates transparency in supply chains. In line with all businesses with a turnover greater than £36 million per annum, the NHS is also obliged to comply with the Act.

The aim of this statement is to demonstrate the trust follows good practice and all reasonable steps are taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking.

All members of staff have a personal responsibility for the successful prevention of slavery and human trafficking.

About the organisation

Whilst LCHS is currently considered to be outside of scope of the £36million threshold financial turnover we fully support the Government’s objectives to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking and we recognise the significant role the NHS has to play in both combatting it, and supporting victims.

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust delivers a range of community-based services to the people of Lincolnshire. LCHS employ 2,400 staff working out of a range of bases covering the whole county of Lincolnshire, an area of 2,350 sq. miles and a population of 772,000.

We work in partnership as a health and social care system with other providers from both health and social care helping people to maintain independent lifestyles for as long as they can. Our community healthcare services include:

  • Community Nursing and Therapy Services
  • Community Hospital in- patient and out- patient services
  • Urgent Care Services
  • General Practice
  • A range of specialist services including diabetes, pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation
  • Sexual Health
  • Children’s Therapy and Immunisation Services

In accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust, makes the following statement regarding the steps it has taken to ensure that Modern Slavery i.e. slavery and human trafficking, is not taking place in any part of its supply chains.

We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:

  1. Recruitment policy
    We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all directly employed staff, and agencies on approved frameworks are audited to provide assurance that pre-employment clearance has been obtained for agency staff, to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will
  2. Equal Opportunities
    We have a range of controls to protect staff from poor treatment and/or exploitation, which comply with all respective laws and regulations. These include provision of fair pay rates, fair terms and conditions of employment, and access to training and development opportunities
  3. Safeguarding policies
    We adhere to the principles inherent within both our safeguarding children and adults policies. These are compliant with the Berkshire multiagency agreements and provide clear guidance so that our employees are clear on how to raise safeguarding concerns about how colleagues or people receiving our services are being treated, or about practices within our business or supply chain.
  4. Raising Concerns and Whistleblowing policy
    We operate a raising concern and whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues or people receiving our services are being treated, or about practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals
  5. Standards of business conduct
    This code explains the manner in which we behave as an organisation and how we expect our employees and suppliers to act.

Training and advice

Training and advice about modern slavery and human trafficking is available to staff through the safeguarding training programme and via the safeguarding hub. We work with the health and social care system to ensure we are raising awareness of modern slavery and developing a high level of understanding regarding the risks relating to modern slavery and human trafficking.

Supply Chain

We take all appropriate steps to ensure that Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking is not taking place in any part of LCHS business or supply chains including;

· In order to demonstrate due diligence processes in relation to Modern Slavery in its business and supply chains, LCHS will requires that all companies (with a turnover of over £36 million), provide an annual Slavery and Human Trafficking statement / report to comply with the Modern Slavery Act, 2015.

· We continue to build long standing relationships with our suppliers and make clear our expectations of business behaviour. Where national or international supply chains are used, we expect those suppliers to have suitable anti-slavery and human trafficking policies and procedures and where there is a risk of Slavery and Human Trafficking taking place, steps have been taken to assess and manage that risk.

· We continually develop a level of communication with the next link in the supply chain and their understanding of, and compliance with, our expectations in relation to the NHS terms and conditions. These conditions relate to issues such as bribery, slavery and other ethical considerations.

Performance Indicators

We will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain if:

  • No reports are received from our staff, the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices have been identified.

Author: Gemma Cross, Named Nurse Safeguarding

Date of statement - May 2021

Lincolnshire County Council’s children's services

Open: 9am to 5pm

Telephone: 01522 782111

Lincolnshire County Council’s Safeguarding Adults Team

Open: 9am to 5pm

Telephone: 01522 782155

Email: customer_services@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board Multi-Agency Referral/Contact Form Completed form must be emailed to ASC@lincolnshire.gcsx.gov.uk.

If the referral requires urgent attention, a follow up phone call should be made to the Customer Service Centre (number above).

Report concerns about safeguarding adults.

Peterborough Contacts

Peterborough Children’s Safeguarding

If you think that a child has been hurt, contact the duty social worker on 01733 864180 or you may call the Police. Out of office hours Emergency Duty Team can be called on 01733 234724.

Peterborough Adults Safeguarding

If you have a concern, suspicion or allegation that an adult is being subjected to harm, abuse or neglect you should contact:

Non-urgent referrals: contact customer services.

Emergency referrals: within office hours, please contact customer services.

outside office hours, please call Emergency Duty Team on 01733 234724.

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Back to Our Services Date last modified 07/06/2021