What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding adults, young people and children involves providing support, promoting welfare, and keeping people safe from abuse or neglect.
We are committed to safeguarding adults, young people and children from abuse and neglect. We work closely with all eight local authorities, healthcare providers, safeguarding partnerships and networks of professionals to help prevent the abuse of adults, young people and children.
Our aim is to ensure that all the services we commission provide safe care to our patients.
We do this by:
- Putting local people first and making safeguarding a priority in all the services we commission
- Ensuring that all staff have access to training and are supported with the right policies and procedures to help them recognise and report concerns
- Using robust and collaborative quality improvement approaches to strengthen safeguarding arrangements
- Working closely with doctors, nurses and all clinical staff; alongside our multi agency partners
Modern slavery and human trafficking
Modern slavery is the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. Individuals may be trafficked into, out of or within the UK, and they may be trafficked for a number of reasons including sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude and organ harvesting.
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in any part of our business activity and, in so far as is possible, to hold our suppliers to account to do likewise.
Safeguarding adults
Adult safeguarding involves working with adults with care and support needs to keep them safe from abuse or neglect. It is an important part of what many public services do, and a key responsibility of local authorities (Care Act 2014).
Types of abuse suffered by adults identified in the Care Act 2014 are:
- Physical
- Sexual
- Psychological/emotional/mental
- Financial and material
- Neglect and act of omission
- Discriminatory
- Organisational
- Modern day slavery
- Domestic violence
- Self neglect – including hoarding
Other types of harm that adults may experience include:
- Cyber bullying
- Forced marriage
- Female genital mutilation
- Hate crime
- Radicalisation
Safeguarding children
Safeguarding children is everybody’s responsibility and all adults have a duty to report concerns. You could be a neighbour, friend, parent, relative, child-minder, teacher, doctor or work for an organisation which has contact with children and young people.
There are many different forms of child abuse and neglect, such a child sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation and child trafficking, and they can all be classified as one or more of the four categories of abuse and neglect set out below:
- Emotional
- Physical
- Sexual
- Neglect
How to raise a concern about an adult or a child
In an emergency call 999. If you want to report any other type of crime call 101.
Hate crime can alternatively be reported through True Vision.
- If you wish to raise a safeguarding concern with the local authority as the lead agency for safeguarding, you will find the contact details in the table below
- If you feel unsure about raising a concern, you can have a confidential discussion with the local authority safeguarding leads without disclosing identifying information
| Area | Adult Safeguarding | Children Safeguarding |
| Barking and Dagenham | Office hours: 020 8227 2915 intaketeam@lbbd.gov.uk Out of hours: 0208 594 8356 | Office hours: 020 8227 3811 / Childrensservices2@lbbd.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8594 8356 / ChildrensEDT@redbridge.gov.uk |
| City of London | Office hours: 020 7332 1224 adultsduty@cityoflondon.gov.uk Out of hours: 0300 123 2040 | Office hours: 020 7332 3621 / Children.Duty@cityoflondon.cjsm.net Out of hours: 020 8356 2710 |
| Hackney | Office hours: 020 8356 5782 adultprotection@hackney.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8356 2300. | Office hours: 020 8356 5500 / fast@hackney.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8356 2710 |
| Havering | Office hours: 01708 433 550 Fax (Safe Haven): 01708 432 497 Safeguarding_Adults@havering.gov.uk Out of hours: 01708 433999 | Office hours: 01708 433 222 / tmash@havering.gov.uk Out of hours: 01708 433 999 |
| Newham | 24 hours: 020 3373 044 Accessto.AdultsSocialCareTeam@newham.gov.uk | Office hours: 020 3373 4600 mash@newham.gov.uk |
| Redbridge | Office hours: 020 8708 7333 Adults.Alert@Redbridge.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8554 5000 | Office hours: 020 8708 3885 / cpat.referrals@redbridge.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8708 5897 |
| Tower Hamlets | Office hours: 0300 303 6070 Enquiry@towerhamletsconnect.org Out of hours: 020 7364 4079 | Office hours: 020 7364 5606 / 560 MASH@towerhamlets.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 7364 4079 |
| Waltham Forest | Office hours: 020 8496 3000 (Select option 2 for Social Care) WFDLiaison@walthamforest.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8496 3000 | Office hours: 020 8496 2310 MASHrequests@walthamforest.gov.uk Out of hours: 020 8496 3000 |
If you wish to contact safeguarding leads within the ICB, please contact the following people:
Tower Hamlets, Newham & Waltham Forest Designated Safeguarding Professionals – Adults & Children
Email: nelondonicb.tnwsafeguardingteam@nhs.net
City & Hackney Designated Safeguarding Professionals – Adults & Children
Email: nelondonicb.cahsafeguarding@nhs.net
Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge Designated Safeguarding Professionals – Adults
Email: nelondonicb.bhrsafeguarding@nhs.net
Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge Designated Safeguarding Professionals – Children
Email: nelondonicb.bhrsafeguardinglac@nhs.net
Safeguarding Adults Boards
We are partners of the local Safeguarding Board in each local authority area. Each board is a multi-agency partnership which has statutory functions under the Care Act 2014. The main objective of the board is to assure itself that local safeguarding arrangements and partners are acting to safeguard adults at risk of abuse in the local area.
Safeguarding Children Partnerships
We are members of the Safeguarding Children Partnerships in each local authority area:
