Safeguarding policy
Safeguarding
The safety and wellbeing of every person we support is our absolute priority. 3ripple Health is committed to safeguarding adults and children from abuse, neglect and exploitation. This page explains what safeguarding means, what we do, and how to report a concern.
What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding means protecting people's right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Care Act 2014, all health and social care providers have a legal duty to safeguard the people they support.
Our six safeguarding principles
Empowerment
We support people to make their own decisions and give informed consent.
Prevention
We work proactively to prevent abuse or neglect from occurring.
Proportionality
We take the least intrusive response appropriate to the risk.
Protection
We support and protect people most at risk.
Partnership
We work with local services to prevent, detect and report abuse.
Accountability
We are transparent about our safeguarding practice and standards.
Types of abuse we are trained to recognise
- Physical abuse: hitting, restraining, or inappropriate physical contact.
- Emotional or psychological abuse: threats, coercion, humiliation or isolation.
- Sexual abuse: any sexual contact or behaviour without informed consent.
- Financial or material abuse: theft, fraud, or misuse of a person's money or property.
- Neglect or acts of omission: failing to provide necessary care, warmth, food or medication.
- Discriminatory abuse: abuse related to a protected characteristic such as age, disability or religion.
- Institutional or organisational abuse: poor care practices within a service or institution.
- Modern slavery: trafficking, forced labour or domestic servitude.
- Self-neglect: a person failing to care for their own health, hygiene or safety.
What we do
- Every member of our team receives mandatory safeguarding training before they work with service users, and refreshes this training annually.
- We carry out Enhanced DBS checks on all staff.
- We have a named Safeguarding Lead responsible for managing concerns and liaising with the local authority.
- We follow the All-Wales Adult Protection and Support Procedures.
- We report all safeguarding concerns to the appropriate local authority safeguarding team without delay.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
How to report a safeguarding concern
If you are worried about the safety or welfare of a person receiving care from us or from any other care provider please act immediately:
In an emergency
Call 999.
Report to the Local Authority
Adult safeguarding concerns in Wales should be reported to the relevant Local Authority Adult Social Services team. Contact details for all Welsh local authorities are available at www.gov.wales/find-your-local-authority.
Report to us
You can also report a concern about our services directly to our Safeguarding Lead (contact details above), or to our Registered Manager.
Report to the regulator
You can report safeguarding concerns about any registered care provider to the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW):
Useful contacts
| Organisation | Telephone | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency services | 999 | — |
| Care Inspectorate Wales | 0300 7900 126 | www.careinspectorate.wales |
| Social Care Wales | 0300 303 3444 | www.socialcare.wales |
| NSPCC (child safeguarding) | 0808 800 5000 | www.nspcc.org.uk |
| Hourglass (older adult abuse) | 0808 808 8141 | www.wearehourglass.org |
| Live Fear Free (abuse helpline) | 0808 80 10 800 | www.gov.wales/live-fear-free |
Worried about someone?
Don't wait. Contact us or call emergency services now. Every concern matters.