People. Care. Communities.

Safeguarding

Protecting People. Promoting Dignity. Taking Concerns Seriously.

Safeguarding at Girocare

Safety, dignity and wellbeing come first.

At Girocare, safeguarding is a fundamental part of responsible work within the care and support sector.

The people supported by the organisations we work with have the right to live safely, to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and avoidable harm.

As a staffing agency supporting care providers with additional professionals, we recognise that the people we supply may work alongside individuals who are elderly, disabled, unwell, experiencing mental health difficulties or otherwise require care and support.

That brings responsibility.

Everyone representing Girocare is expected to understand the importance of safeguarding, remain alert to genuine concerns and act appropriately when something does not appear right.

Our Safeguarding Commitment

Girocare is committed to promoting working practices that place people's safety, dignity and wellbeing at the centre of care.

We expect professionals working through Girocare to:

treat people with dignity and respect;
recognise that every individual has rights and choices;
remain alert to signs of abuse, neglect or exploitation;
understand their responsibility to report safeguarding concerns;
follow the safeguarding procedures of the service in which they are working;
maintain appropriate professional boundaries;
protect confidential information appropriately;
never ignore a serious concern because it is inconvenient or difficult to raise; and
cooperate appropriately where a safeguarding matter is being investigated.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

What Is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding means protecting a person's right to live safely and free from abuse and neglect.

Abuse can occur anywhere.

It can happen in someone's home, a residential or nursing home, supported living accommodation, a hospital, a community setting or another environment in which care or support is provided.

It may involve someone known to the individual, another person receiving support, a family member, a professional, a visitor or somebody else.

Sometimes abuse is deliberate.

Sometimes harm results from poor practice, neglect or a failure to respond appropriately to someone's needs.

Whatever the circumstances, concerns should be taken seriously.

Awareness

Recognising Different Forms of Abuse

People working within care should understand that safeguarding concerns can take many different forms.

These can include:

Physical Abuse

This may include hitting, pushing, inappropriate restraint, rough handling, misuse of medication or other actions that cause physical harm.

Psychological or Emotional Abuse

This may include intimidation, threats, humiliation, controlling behaviour, harassment, bullying, isolation or repeatedly making someone feel frightened or worthless.

Sexual Abuse

This includes sexual activity or contact to which a person has not consented, cannot consent or has been pressured or coerced into accepting.

Financial or Material Abuse

This may include theft, fraud, scams, pressure relating to money or property, misuse of benefits or inappropriate control over someone's finances.

Neglect and Acts of Omission

Neglect may occur when a person's essential care, health or support needs are deliberately or repeatedly ignored.

Discriminatory Abuse

This can include harassment, unequal treatment or abuse connected with a person's protected characteristics or other aspects of who they are.

Organisational Abuse

Poor or inappropriate practices within an organisation can sometimes result in people receiving unsafe, undignified or unnecessarily restrictive care.

Domestic Abuse

Abuse can occur within intimate, family or household relationships and may involve physical, emotional, sexual, financial or controlling behaviour.

Modern Slavery and Exploitation

This can include forced labour, human trafficking, servitude or other situations in which somebody is being controlled or exploited.

Self-Neglect

In some circumstances, a person's behaviour or living situation may create a serious risk to their own health, safety or wellbeing and may require an appropriate safeguarding response.

Recognising the Signs

Safeguarding concerns are not always obvious.

A person may be unable or unwilling to explain what is happening to them.

Changes in behaviour, unexplained injuries, fear around particular individuals, poor hygiene, sudden financial difficulties, unusual withdrawal, distress or significant changes in someone's circumstances may sometimes indicate that further attention is needed.

One sign alone does not necessarily mean that abuse has occurred.

Workers should avoid making assumptions or attempting to conduct their own investigation.

The important thing is to recognise the concern, respond appropriately and report it through the correct channels.

If Someone Discloses Abuse

If somebody tells a Girocare worker that they are being harmed or abused, the worker should listen carefully and take what they are saying seriously.

They should:

remain calm;
listen without unnecessarily interrupting;
avoid expressing disbelief or making judgements;
avoid asking leading or investigative questions;
never promise complete secrecy;
explain, where appropriate, that the information may need to be shared with people who can help;
make an accurate record of what was said or observed; and
report the concern promptly through the appropriate safeguarding procedure.

The worker's role is not to investigate the allegation.

Their responsibility is to recognise, record and report the concern so that the appropriate people can determine what should happen next.

Reporting a Safeguarding Concern

When a Girocare professional is working within a care provider's service, they should follow that organisation's safeguarding and reporting procedures.

This will normally involve reporting the concern promptly to the appropriate manager, senior member of staff or designated safeguarding person.

Where appropriate, Girocare should also be informed so that we can take any necessary action relating to the worker, assignment or our responsibilities as the staffing agency.

If the concern involves the person to whom the worker would normally report, an alternative appropriate reporting route should be used.

A safeguarding concern should never simply be ignored because the usual person responsible for receiving reports may be involved.

Working With Care Providers

Safeguarding works best when agencies and care providers communicate properly.

The organisation responsible for the service will have its own safeguarding policies, management arrangements and reporting procedures.

Girocare expects workers attending an assignment to familiarise themselves with relevant local procedures and follow reasonable instructions provided by the service.

We also expect our care-provider partners to give agency professionals the information they reasonably need to work safely within the service.

Where a safeguarding matter involves a Girocare worker, we will cooperate appropriately with the provider and relevant authorities.

Concerns About a Girocare Worker

We take allegations concerning people supplied by Girocare seriously.

If a care provider has a safeguarding concern relating to the conduct of a Girocare worker, the provider should take whatever immediate steps are necessary to protect the person or people receiving care and notify Girocare as soon as reasonably possible.

Depending on the nature of the allegation, Girocare may take appropriate action concerning future assignments while the matter is being considered.

Where circumstances require referral to an appropriate authority or professional body, the relevant procedures should be followed.

The safety of people receiving care must take priority over simply filling a shift.

Professional practice

Everyday actions that support safer care

Professional Boundaries

Professional boundaries help protect both people receiving support and those providing it.

Workers representing Girocare are expected to maintain appropriate relationships with the people they support.

This includes avoiding behaviour that could exploit a person's trust, dependency or vulnerability.

Workers should not use their professional position for inappropriate personal, financial or other advantage.

Any situation that creates uncertainty about professional boundaries should be raised with an appropriate manager.

Dignity, Choice and Respect

Safeguarding is not only about responding when something has already gone wrong.

Good safeguarding also means creating environments in which people are respected.

People receiving care and support should, as far as reasonably possible, be involved in decisions affecting their lives.

Their privacy, dignity, independence, beliefs, preferences and choices should be respected.

Care should never become unnecessarily controlling simply because somebody requires support.

Confidentiality and Information Sharing

Information relating to safeguarding can be highly sensitive and should be handled appropriately.

However, confidentiality should never be used as a reason to conceal a genuine safeguarding concern.

Relevant information may need to be shared with appropriate people or organisations where this is necessary to protect an individual or meet legal or safeguarding responsibilities.

Workers should not discuss safeguarding matters casually or share information with people who have no legitimate reason to receive it.

Information should be shared appropriately, proportionately and through the correct channels.

Speaking Up

People should be able to raise genuine concerns without being intimidated into remaining silent.

Girocare encourages professionals working through us to speak up where they genuinely believe somebody may be at risk.

A worker should not ignore unsafe or abusive behaviour simply because the person involved is more senior than them.

Likewise, care providers should feel able to contact Girocare when they have legitimate concerns about someone we have supplied.

A culture in which people are willing to raise concerns is an important part of safer care.

Prepared people

Safeguarding begins before an assignment

Recruitment and Safeguarding

Safeguarding begins before somebody attends their first assignment.

Girocare uses appropriate recruitment and onboarding processes for the roles we supply.

Depending on the role and applicable requirements, these may include identity and right-to-work verification, employment information, references, appropriate DBS checks, relevant qualifications, professional registration and training information.

These measures form part of our wider approach to responsible staffing.

No recruitment process can replace good safeguarding practice within the workplace, which is why ongoing awareness and appropriate reporting remain essential.

Training and Awareness

People working in care need to understand how to recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns.

Girocare expects workers to have safeguarding knowledge appropriate to their role and assignment.

Workers should also follow any relevant safeguarding instructions, induction requirements and local procedures provided by the organisation where they are working.

Safeguarding knowledge should remain current rather than being treated simply as a certificate obtained once.

Children and Young People

Where an assignment involves children or young people, the safeguarding requirements applicable to that service must be followed.

Girocare will only seek to supply professionals into such environments where the appropriate role requirements can be met.

Safeguarding children and safeguarding adults involve different statutory frameworks and procedures, and workers must follow the arrangements relevant to the setting in which they are working.

Our Responsibilities

Girocare's role as a staffing agency is different from the role of the care provider managing the service.

We are responsible for operating our staffing service responsibly, responding appropriately to concerns involving people supplied by us and cooperating where safeguarding matters require our involvement.

The care provider remains responsible for managing its service, safeguarding arrangements, care delivery, risk management and the supervision and direction of work within its organisation.

Our workers are responsible for behaving professionally, working within their competence and following safeguarding and reporting procedures.

Effective safeguarding depends on all of us playing our part.

Our approach

Our Safeguarding Principles

Our approach is built around several straightforward principles:

People should be safe.People should be treated with dignity and respect.Concerns should be listened to.Abuse and neglect should never be ignored.Workers should understand how to report concerns.Information should be handled responsibly.Professional boundaries should be maintained.Care providers and staffing agencies should communicate when concerns arise.Immediate safety comes first.

Raise a concern

Contact Girocare About a Safeguarding Concern

If you need to raise a safeguarding concern connected with Girocare, a Girocare worker or an assignment involving our agency, please contact us through our official contact channels as soon as possible.

Please provide enough information for us to understand the concern, while avoiding unnecessary sharing of sensitive personal information.

Emergency

If somebody is in immediate danger or requires urgent assistance, call 999.

Do not delay emergency action while waiting for Girocare to respond.