Making sure that the people we support are safe, prioritising their wellbeing and reducing or preventing their risk of harm or exploitation is key to the support which we provide. We support individuals to make decisions with their best interests at heart. We provide information in a form which people understand to help them to make their own decisions. We do not judge people; we consider their choices and assess risks to help them to fulfil their ambitions. We carry this process out in the least restrictive way possible.
Our staff are trained in Safeguarding every year to ensure that individuals who we support are free from unintentional abuse and neglect. Although it is a legal requirement, our employees naturally have people’s best interests at their heart as part of the responsibilities of their role. With this in mind, we also appreciate if someone we support is brave enough to disclose their concerns that we need to believe them and keep their confidentiality as much as possible in line with our policies and procedures.
There are many forms of abuse and so our staff are experienced in recognising the symptoms and behaviours that indicate someone is feeling distress. People’s rights under the Care Act 2014, The Human Rights Act 1998, Data Protection Act 1998-2018, GDPR 2018 and The Equalities Act 2010 apply to us all and are particularly relevant to safeguarding vulnerable people. When we consider the Mental Capacity Act 2005, we accept that for some people they experience significant cognitive impairment. It is at this time that risks they take are assessed and the communication changes for the individual to help them to understand the choices that they have. Choice, equality, and independence are the values we always shine a light on, and the mental capacity of the people we support is always considered with these priorities in mind.
Everyone has the right to make choices and be in control of their own lives and take part in managing the risks that they take. The training our staff undertakes means that as a charity we can recognise those most at risk, give our staff the confidence to react quickly and appropriately if they suspect someone is suffering discomfort, understand how to report incidences, to follow our procedures and understand legal requirements so no “Act Of Omission” takes place. This means that we can build trust with the people we support, their friends, families, and our partnership agencies by adhering to the 6 principles of safeguarding:
- Empowerment
- Prevention
- Proportionality
- Protection
- Partnership
- Accountability