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Safeguarding

Criminal Records Bureau Checks

In accordance with the Trust’s Criminal Records Disclosure & Pre & Post Employment Checks Policy a Criminal Records Bureau check is carried out for all Trust employees prior to appointment. Any applicant who is included on the Protection of Children Act 1999 (POCA) List will not be appointed. If an applicant has a criminal record, this will be assessed in relation to the tasks required of the role and the relevance of the offence or offences. If it is found that an existing employee is included on the POCA List the employment will be terminated. The Trust recognises its responsibility to refer names to the Secretary of State for inclusion on the POCA List.

Child Protection Policies and Systems

The Trust ensures that its child protection policies and systems are up to date, robust and compliant with local and national legislation and guidance.

The Trust’s Child Protection Policy sets out guidance and systems for referring concerns to Social Services and seeking advice from the Trust’s Safeguarding Team.

It incorporates advice on “Did Not Attend / Was Not Brought” and describes the system for following up children who miss 1 or more outpatient appointments.

The Trust has a manual and an electronic alert system in place for flagging up children for whom there are safeguarding concerns.

Child Protection Training

The Trust has a Safeguarding Training Strategy in place, in accordance with which all new staff receive Safeguarding Training as part of the Trust Induction Programme. All new staff are required to undergo a training needs analysis within eight weeks of appointment to identify the need for Level 2 or 3 Safeguarding Adult/Children training, with refresher training every three years. The Trust monitors compliance with these requirements through regular review of training data.

Board Level Executive Lead

The Trust’s Chief Nursing Officer has Executive responsibility for Safeguarding. The Board of Directors receives a six-monthly safeguarding report which addresses trust-wide safeguarding issues.

Safeguarding Audits

The Trust has a robust audit programme in place.

  • Monitoring of action plans from additional external and internal audits.

The audits will include the systems employed in the Trust’s Emergency Department.