Here at the Oakwood Surgery we take your safety very seriously.
Dr Dean Eggitt is our safeguarding lead
We have an in house meeting every week and another meeting every month where we discuss our concerns within the team.
We have an ethical, legal and contractual responsibility to contribute to keeping all of our patients free from harm, abuse and neglect. This means that when we identify ‘red flags’ or concerns we are duty bound to act.
Examples of red flags include (Please note that this list is an example and is not exhaustive)
– Unexplained bruises / injuries
– Learning difficulties
– Longstanding debilitating illness/es
– Isolation
– Frequent attendance with minor problems
– Frequent attendance at the out of hours or use of emergency services / 111
– Non attendance for booked appointments
– Inconsistencies in presentation / history of illnesses
– Red flags shared to us by the public or other colleagues
The action that we might take after noting a safeguarding concern depends upon the severity of the concern but might include speaking to other professional colleagues to gather more information or a formal referral to the social services for further action. In rare circumstances admission to hospital may be considered when a place of safety is urgently needed. The professional colleagues that we most often speak to about safeguarding concerns are teachers, nurses, police officers and colleagues working in the local authority or clinical commissioning group.
When we need to act on our concerns we will usually tell you. This is best practice and is always our preferred option. If we have concerns that by informing you we may worsen the safeguarding situation we may share our concerns with professional colleagues without informing you. This is one of the instances where we may breach confidentiality if we deem that it is in the best interest of the patient.