Safeguarding & child protection policy

This policy applies to everyone acting for or with the college: staff, tutors, clinical supervisors, visiting lecturers, students on placement or in the teaching clinic, volunteers, contractors and members of the governing body. It applies on college premises, at external venues, online, and during any activity arranged by the college.

The welfare of the child or adult at risk comes first. That principle overrides convenience, timetable, reputation and the discomfort of raising something uncertain. A member of staff or a student who reports a concern in good faith will be supported for doing so, even if the concern turns out not to be founded.

The college’s clinical programmes are designed for, and restricted to, adults aged 18 and over, and the teaching clinic treats adults. Some of what the college does, however, may involve people under 18: open days and campus visits, short courses and family workshops, community events, work experience, and students who are themselves under 18 on non-clinical courses. This policy therefore applies to those activities in full.

The college does not provide clinical treatment to anyone under 18, and does not permit students to treat anyone under 18, unless a specific exception has been approved in writing by the Clinical Director: [CONFIRM — WHETHER ANY TREATMENT OF UNDER-18s IS PERMITTED, AND UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS].

A child is anyone under the age of 18, whether or not they are a student and whether or not they are living independently.

An adult at risk is an adult who has needs for care and support, is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves. This follows the definition used in the Care Act 2014. Many patients attending the teaching clinic are older or unwell; age or frailty alone does not make someone an adult at risk, but it does mean that consent, capacity and dignity are handled deliberately rather than assumed.

Abuse can take many forms: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, financial or material abuse, domestic abuse, discriminatory abuse, self-neglect, modern slavery, and abuse that happens online. Staff and students are not expected to diagnose abuse. They are expected to notice, to record what they have actually seen or heard, and to report it.

The college has a designated safeguarding lead (DSL), supported by a deputy who acts in their absence. The DSL is the single point of contact for any safeguarding concern, and is responsible for decisions about referral, for keeping records, for liaising with statutory agencies, and for reporting to the governing body.

• Designated safeguarding lead: [NAME], [ROLE], [TELEPHONE], [EMAIL]
• Deputy DSL: [NAME], [TELEPHONE]
• Safeguarding governor / board member: [NAME]
• Clinical safeguarding link: [CLINICAL DIRECTOR]

Everyone else’s responsibility is simpler and non-negotiable: if you are concerned about someone, tell the DSL. You do not have to decide whether the concern is serious enough, and you do not have to investigate. Doubt is a reason to report, not a reason to wait.

The college applies safer recruitment practice to every appointment, including part-time, sessional and voluntary roles, and to the admission of students onto programmes that involve contact with children or adults at risk. Checks are carried out before a person starts, not after, and are recorded on a single central record maintained by [ROLE, e.g. the Registrar].

Students admitted to programmes that involve contact with under-18s are required to obtain an enhanced DBS check before that contact begins, and to tell the college about any change in their circumstances that would affect it. Students are not permitted to begin a placement or activity involving under-18s while a check is pending.

Where the concern is about a member of staff, a student, a volunteer or a contractor, it goes to the DSL and to the Principal immediately. It is not raised first with the person concerned, and it is not resolved informally. The college will refer the matter to the local authority designated officer where the person is working with children, and will consider whether the person should be suspended from contact with children or patients while the matter is examined. Suspension is a neutral, precautionary step and is not a finding.

Where a referral duty arises, the college will also refer the matter to the Disclosure and Barring Service and, where the person is a registered practitioner, to the relevant professional body or regulator: [PROFESSIONAL BODIES / REGULATORS].

Anyone may raise a concern about a colleague, including a more senior colleague, and is protected in doing so. Where a person feels unable to raise it internally, the college’s whistleblowing route is [WHISTLEBLOWING CONTACT], and external disclosure to a regulator or the local authority is always available.

The college’s taught clinical programmes are for adults aged 18 and over. Some short courses, open days, community events and family activities may involve under-18s, and the following controls apply to all of them:

• Written parental or carer consent is obtained before an under-18 takes part in any college activity, including consent for emergency medical treatment and for photography.
• No member of staff or student is alone with an under-18 in a closed or unobserved space. A second adult is present, or the door is open and the session is visible.
• Contact with under-18s takes place through college channels only. Staff and students do not communicate privately with an under-18 by personal message, social media or personal telephone.
• Activities are age-appropriate, and any practical session involving needles, herbs or manual therapy is adapted or excluded for under-18 participants.
• Photographs of under-18s are taken only with written consent, are never published with identifying details such as a full name or school, and are removed on request.
• Ratios of adults to under-18s are set for each activity in advance, at a minimum of [RATIO].

Online sessions that include under-18s are delivered with a member of college staff present throughout, are not recorded, and use waiting rooms or equivalent controls so that participants cannot join uninvited.

Every patient in the teaching clinic is asked for informed consent before any assessment or treatment, and is told that a student will be involved and that a qualified supervisor is responsible for their care. Consent is recorded in the clinical notes and can be withdrawn at any point, including during a treatment.

Where a patient may lack the capacity to make a particular decision, the supervisor assesses capacity for that decision, and acts in the patient’s best interests in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Students do not make that assessment alone. Patients are welcome to bring a companion, and a chaperone is offered where personal care is involved.

Concerns about an adult at risk — including suspected financial abuse, neglect or coercion by a family member or carer — are reported to the DSL and, where appropriate, to the local authority adult safeguarding team. The patient’s wishes are taken seriously, but a competent adult’s refusal of a referral does not prevent the college from acting where someone else is also at risk.

Safeguarding information is shared on a need-to-know basis, and only with those who need it in order to protect someone. Data protection law does not prevent the college from sharing information where there is a safeguarding concern: the UK GDPR allows it, and the college will share what is necessary with children’s social care, adult safeguarding, the police and the LADO. Usual confidentiality is not a reason to withhold information from a statutory agency that needs it.

Safeguarding records are kept separately from student and patient records, with access restricted to the DSL, the deputy and the Principal. They are retained for [XX] years and then destroyed. Records are factual, dated and attributed, and they record both the concern and what was done about it.

All staff, tutors, clinical supervisors and students receive safeguarding induction before starting, covering the reporting routes, the identity of the DSL and the limits of confidentiality. Refresher training is provided every [XX] years, and the DSL and deputy undertake specialist training every [XX] years. Attendance is recorded.

The DSL reports to [COMMITTEE NAME] at least annually on the number and nature of concerns raised, the referrals made, the training completed and any lessons learned. This policy is reviewed annually, and after any serious incident, by the DSL and the governing body. The next review is due by [DATE].