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Safeguarding Policy

Safeguarding Policy for the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service on behalf of the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation  

 

Operational date 

This policy is operational as from 1st November 2024.  

Approval 

This policy has been approved by the Executive director of income generation and communications at Kidney Research UK. 

Policy Governance 

The policy owner is the Programme Lead for the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation. 

This policy will be reviewed every two years by the Programme Lead for the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation. 

The Programme Lead for the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation is responsible for monitoring compliance to this policy. 

Scope 

This policy applies to all volunteers of the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service. 

Definitions and interpretations 

In this policy the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings: 

The term Volunteer constitutes any volunteer that has accepted an agreed role within the Robert Dangoor Partnership as a Living Kidney Donation Buddy. 

Contents 

  1. Policy Purpose 
  2. Policy statement 
  3. Safeguarding  
  4. Policy objectives 
  5. Equality and diversity 
  6. Responsibilities for safeguarding 
  7. Representative’s awareness 
  8. Safe employment 
  9. Reporting Concerns Procedure 

1. Policy Purpose 

This policy sets out the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all those using the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service.  

2. Policy Statement 

To develop procedures and good practice within The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation to ensure that every volunteer can demonstrate their understanding of the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of those using the buddy support service. 

3. Safeguarding  

There is a duty to make appropriate arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of those using the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service. 

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and all volunteers who, during the course of their duties have direct or indirect contact with persons, or who have access to information about them, have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of persons. 

Definitions 

The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation works to the following principles (as outlined in the Department of Health publication “No Secrets”):

  • Everyone has the right to live their life free from violence, fear and abuse 
  • Everyone has the right to be protected from harm and exploitation 
  • Everyone has the right to independence, which carries with it a degree of risk. 

The main forms of abuse are divided into the following categories: 

  • Physical abuse – including hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medication, restraint, inappropriate sanctions 
  • Sexual abuse – including rape, sexual assault, sexual acts to which a person has not consented, could not consent or was pressurised into consenting 
  • Psychological abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation, withdrawal from services or supportive networks 
  • Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, exploitation, pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits 
  • Neglect and acts of omission – including ignoring medical or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life such as medication, adequate nutrition, and heating 
  • Discriminatory abuse – including racist, sexist, that based on a person’s disability and other forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment 
  • Institutional abuse, neglect and poor professional practice – this may take the form of isolated incidents of poor or unsatisfactory professional practice at one end of the spectrum, through to pervasive ill treatment or gross misconduct at the other. 

Representatives will respond appropriately when they see or are concerned about abuse:

  • This means that representatives will record and report their concerns about abuse to the Living Kidney Donation Relationship Manager 
  • Representatives can speak to the Relationship Manager, the Programme Lead or a member of the Executive Team if they have any concerns or are unsure whether something should be reported 
  • If the concern is urgent and life threatening and is out of office hours, the volunteer should call emergency services. 

4. Policy objectives 

Our main policy objective is to ensure that we promote safeguarding as the moral norm so that it becomes everybody’s business.  

For this policy to be effective, it is essential that each volunteer understands what safeguarding means in practice, knows that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, knows the signs and symptoms of potential harm, how to access safeguarding information, advice and guidance, and is committed to making an informed contribution to safeguard.  

5. Equality and diversity 

Equality is based on a commitment to fairness whilst recognising that everyone is different, and diversity is about the ways in which people differ and recognising that differences are a natural part of society. The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation expects that all those using the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service to treat them as individuals and make them feel respected and valued, as an essential part of our commitment to safeguarding.  

6. Responsibilities for safeguarding 

 The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation will: 

  • Ensure the highest standards of safe recruitment, training, supervision and management oversight of volunteers 
  • Take appropriate action regarding any concerns expressed about the welfare of anyone using the buddy support service, in line with their rights to privacy and wherever possible on the basis of informed consent 
  • Ensure that all volunteers have a clear understanding of the partnerships and their own responsibilities for safeguarding 
  • Promote the highest standards of safeguarding practice across the partnership 
  • Carry out annual audits on our performance. 

The Executive Team will champion safeguarding at a corporate level on behalf of The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation and ensure all teams are involved in policy shaping, safeguarding training, programme development and learning from serious case reviews. 

All policies, procedures and services must take account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare anyone using the buddy support service;  

7. Representative awareness 

The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation will ensure that all volunteers are aware of how to safeguard others and themselves, as well as how to handle confidential and sensitive information.   

All volunteers have access to support and advice in this context and will have an induction and ongoing training so that they know the appropriate procedures and the identity and contact details of relevant personnel, for reporting concerns around safeguarding.  

8. Safe employment 

Robust procedures are in place to ensure that volunteers using the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service can use the service safely. 

This means: 

  • There is a culture throughout The Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation that enables safeguarding issues to be raised and robustly addressed 
  • Recruitment and vetting procedures prevent unsuitable people from being able to become a buddy 
  • Volunteers who are using the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service have appropriate safeguarding and safe working practices training, including induction, consistent with their role and function 
  • Safe working practices are promoted, and poor and unsafe practice is challenged 
  • Allegations or concerns about to the treatment of anyone using the buddy support service are handled effectively 
  • Reporting concerns procedures can be viewed in section 9 are also covered in the training process to enable those using the service to report concerns over safeguarding effectively 

9. Reporting Concerns Procedure 

This procedure is guidance on how to report a concern that has taken place whilst using the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service as part of the Robert Dangoor Partnership. 

If the volunteer has a concern about someone they are speaking to, it is important they know how to report that concern. The concern could be around, but not exclusively to, the user’s reason for donation, mental health or inappropriate behaviour on the call as well as any other concerns they feel they may need to raise. 

All concerns should be reported to the Living Kidney Donation Relationship Manager at enquiries@donateakidney.co.uk including but not limited to:

  • Inappropriate behaviour during the video call 
  • Safeguarding concerns about the individual 
  • Health and safety of an individual 
  • Urgent or immediate danger of the individual 

The volunteer or user can terminate the call at any point they feel uncomfortable and report the incident to the Living Kidney Donation Relationship Manager. If concerns are emailed outside office hours, these will be picked up the next working day. 

If the volunteer feels the issue is urgent and there is an immediate danger to themselves or the individual, they can signpost the individual to the relevant organisation or emergency services for support. 

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