Safeguarding statement

Havens Hospices is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of its patients, carers, staff, volunteers and supporters. We recognise our responsibility to promote safe practice and to safeguard all from harm.

We work together to encourage an ethos that embraces diversity and respects the rights of children, young people and adults.  We support the right of all to live free from abuse with respect; dignity and equality, believing that all should receive the support they need to reach their full potential and remain safe.

We promote a culture of listening to and seeking the views of those we care for in a way that is appropriate to their age and understanding, taking into account those views in individual decisions and the establishment or development of services.

We will ensure that:

• The welfare of those we care for will always be paramount
• The rights, wishes and feelings of all those we care for and those important to them will be respected and listened to
• In keeping those we care for safe from harm, we will work with the multi-disciplinary team both within the organisation and external to it sharing information and working within the parameters of the Mental Capacity Act
• All staff, whatever their role, will work in accordance with the interests of all those we care for and will follow the policy and procedures laid down by the organisation

Our Safeguarding policies and procedures ensure that robust systems are in place and set out the framework within which all employees and volunteers of the organisation are required to work to keep children, young people and adults safe. They are therefore able to respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns. Within the organisation, we have the following in place and are therefore able to demonstrate the robust framework within which we work:

• Adult safeguarding policy,and children's safeguarding policy, which include modern slavery
• Trustee with safeguarding responsibility
• Director responsibility for safeguarding within the organisation
• Safeguarding leads at every level of the organisation (see below)
• Caldicott Guardian - Dr Rachael Marchant
• ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ advisor 
• Safeguarding self-assessment audit tool
• Organisational safeguarding action plan created by Safeguarding Committee
• Organisational Safeguarding Committee which meets quarterly
• Departmental safeguarding champions
• Links with external safeguarding teams
• Mandatory safeguarding training as governed by relevant documents
• External safeguarding training covering topics including modern slavery
• Safeguarding supervision
• Assurance framework with governance
• Safer recruitment policies

The wellbeing of those people we support and our staff and volunteers is very important to us. Havens Hospices is an open and transparent organisation and we take any concerns raised or risks identified seriously. Governance processes are in place to manage and respond to concerns and risks identified including escalation to the Leadership Team, Board of Trustees and external agencies (such as the Local Authority) as appropriate. Any trends are monitored via data analysis through this same process.