Safeguarding

Every person, young or old, has the right to live in safety and not be fearful of abuse or neglect.

Our safeguarding team protects adults and children across the borough, working alongside partners to prevent and end exploitation and mistreatment.

We’re committed to promoting the safety, health and wellbeing of adults and children and prevent harm through risk assessment, staff training and supervision processes.

All of our staff adhere to both national and local policies and procedures. We work very closely with the North East Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and the North East Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board, to ensure that all citizens live independent lives in safety and free from abuse and the fear of abuse, with their rights and wellbeing protected.

The vision is one where no one should have to tolerate or be exposed to abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Our safeguarding team consists of safeguarding clinical lead staff as well as safeguarding champions who work within all teams across the organisation. We work closely with our frontline staff, providing expert clinical leadership to enable staff to understand and fulfil their roles in safeguarding adults and children as part of the delivery of holistic care.

'Abuse' is a term that can mean a wide variety of things.

But in the context of safeguarding, abuse is defined as 'a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any other person or persons which results in significant harm.'

It's about the misuse of power and the control that one person has over another.

The severity and types of abuse can depend on a myriad of factors, including number of incidents, intentions and degree of harm.

When a young person reaches the age of 18 the responsibility for their wellbeing may transfer to adult service providers.

Although they cease to be subject of the Safeguarding Children Procedures, some adults may continue to be vulnerable.

An “Adult at Risk” is defined as any person aged 18 years and over who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental health issues, learning or physical disability, sensory impairment, age or illness and who is or may be unable to take care of him/herself or unable to protect him/herself against significant harm or serious exploitation.

Since the publication of ADSS Best Practice Document: ‘Safeguarding Adults’ (2005), the range of people considered to be vulnerable has been widened to include, people encountering domestic violence, substance misusers and asylum seekers.

Child abuse is when a child is intentionally harmed by an adult or another child.

It can be over a period of time but can also be a one-off action. It can be physical, sexual or emotional and it can happen in person or online. It can also be a lack of love, care and attention – this is neglect.

Definition of Child

Policies and procedures that apply to children and young people are applicable up to the age of 18 years, including unborn babies.

The fact that a child has become 16 years of age, is living independently or is in further education, is in the armed forces, in hospital, or in prison or a young offender’s institution, does not change their status or their entitlement to services or their protection under The Children Act 1989.

Abuse can take many different forms and can vary in terms of severity, frequency and intention.

Types of abuse can include:

physical, like hitting or kicking someone
emotional, like intimidating, humiliating or harrassing
financial, like withholding someone's money
sexual, like rape or sexual assault
neglect, like ignoring someone's care needs or withholding medication
domestic, which can include several of the above including coercive control, financial abuse, physical or sexual violence and stalking