Safeguarding Statement

Oakhaven Hospice, Oakhaven Care Agency and the Coates Centre is committed to safeguarding the well-being, health and safety of all adults and children, whether patients, family members, colleagues, or volunteers. The Hospice works with individuals and families at particularly vulnerable times in their lives because of illness, disability, impairment and emotional stress.

The Hospice is aware that, in common with all partner agencies, it shares a responsibility to safeguard individuals' rights to freedom from discrimination, exploitation, intimidation and all forms of harm, abuse and neglect, as set out in the Care Act 2014, the Children Act 1989 & 2004, the European Convention of Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

In line with statutory requirements, 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.

Through our safeguarding policies, Oakhaven will endeavour to ensure that the organisation:

• Enhances the quality of life of vulnerable adults by acting primarily in the best interests and according to the wishes and feelings of adults at risk, enabling them to participate appropriately in any processes affecting them
• Promotes the welfare of children and vulnerable adults by taking seriously all allegations of abuse, regardless of the source of the information and investigates them according to the agreed multi-agency procedures
• Secures the safety of children and vulnerable adults by pursuing intervention and investigation with the least disruption to users' ways of life and with sensitivity to the understanding, disability, illness, culture and ethnicity of the people involved
• Ensuring all staff are subject to rigorous recruitment procedures including Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks
• Ensuring all staff are given appropriate support and training in identifying and understanding the correct response to be taken to care for vulnerable adults
• Ensuring staff and volunteers are aware of the need to be alert to the signs of abuse and know what to do with their concerns

If you are worried or have any concerns or questions, please ask any member of staff or request to speak in confidence to one of the safeguarding leads: