Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding Adults & Children

Safeguarding means taking active steps to protect the wellbeing, dignity and rights of adults and children, ensuring they are safe from abuse, neglect, harm or exploitation. It also involves raising awareness and helping staff, volunteers and others to recognise concerns and respond appropriately.

St Mary’s Hospice is fully committed to safeguarding and operates a zero-tolerance approach to any form of abuse, neglect or discrimination.

Safeguarding is Everyone’s Responsibility

At St Mary’s Hospice, we believe that every person has the right to live free from abuse, harm and exploitation. We have a legal and moral duty to promote the wellbeing of those who use our services and to safeguard individuals and families who may be at risk, including from neglect, exploitation, radicalisation or other forms of harm.

Safeguarding is a core priority at St Mary’s Hospice. We maintain strong safeguarding arrangements through clear leadership, effective governance and a culture of openness and accountability. Our policies and procedures are accessible, regularly reviewed and aligned with relevant legislation, statutory guidance and recognised best practice. We also ensure clear lines of responsibility, supported by monitoring, auditing and learning from incidents to continually improve our approach.

To support safe and effective practice, all clinical and non-clinical staff, volunteers and trustees receive safeguarding training appropriate to their role and level of responsibility.

Safeguarding Champions
St Mary’s Hospice has Safeguarding Champions across its services who meet regularly to share learning, promote best practice and support continuous improvement in safeguarding. They act as a local point of expertise, helping to strengthen awareness, confidence and consistency in safeguarding across the organisation.