Safeguarding patients
Safeguarding means protecting peoples’ health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. It is a key part of providing high-quality health and social care.
Those most in need of protection include:
- children and young people
- adults, such as those receiving care in their own home, people with physical, sensory and mental impairments, and those with learning disabilities.
King’s aims to ensure every child, young person and adult who uses our services is free from abuse or neglect. Everyone at the Trust works to help protect them and promote their welfare.
Safeguarding children and young people
We have a duty of care to safeguard the welfare of children and young people while they are at King’s or being cared for in their own homes by members of our staff. We do this by:
- providing all staff with child protection awareness training
- ensuring that everyone at the Trust knows they have a responsibility to ensure they support the needs of vulnerable children and young people
- providing dedicated help through our specialist Safeguarding Children team to identify, protect and care for those at risk
- working with other agencies such as GPs, social services and other professionals to ensure that the needs of vulnerable children and young adults are met.
Read more about our policy on safeguarding children.
Safeguarding adults
King's recognises that safeguarding vulnerable adults is everybody's business. We provide all staff at the Trust with training about safeguarding adults that is relevant to their role. All staff have a responsibility to alert the Safeguarding team to any concerns about, or suspected abuse of, a vulnerable adult.
King's Older People's Assessment and Liaison (KOPAL) team and Learning Disabilities Co-ordinator closely monitors patients more likely to be vulnerable, such as older adults or adults with learning disabilities. We can provide ‘reasonable adjustments’ for patients with learning disabilities, such as longer visiting hours.
We start planning discharge soon after admission, and the Safeguarding Team supports vulnerable adults and their family and carers, so they can be fully involved in decisions about their care.