We take safeguarding seriously

Safeguarding is about protecting people from being hurt or treated badly. If you are worried that an unborn baby, child or adult is at risk of being harmed, abused or neglected, there are people who can help and support you. Please speak to one of our healthcare professionals - there are many people who can help. If you have concerns about someone’s immediate safety, call 999.

As a Trust, we take our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. We have a safeguarding team with designated professionals. They work with our Trust Board to promote a transparent and accountable service. We also work closely with our partner agencies and regional networks. We are an active member of the local Safeguarding Partnerships. We strive to make sure that adults and children who use our services get safe and compassionate care. In line with our values, they should be treated with dignity and respect.

In line with our Trust vision and values we recognise that all children and young people have a right to be protected and that adults have a responsibility to protect them from harm. To ensure we fulfil our statutory safeguarding responsibilities to promote the welfare of children and young people we have adopted a 'Think Family' approach across the Trust. This approach promotes the need for holistic assessments for all adults and children accessing our services, to ensure the needs of the individual are considered in the context of their relationships and family environment. 

If you need advice or have any queries in relation to Safeguarding Children please contact a member of the team or the named professionals for Safeguarding Children by telephone: 01325 743294 or email: cdda-tr.cpteamsouth@nhs.net.

You can also visit: Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Mental Capacity Act

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) is the legal framework created to help and empower you, making sure you have the support that you need to make your decisions and protect you when others need to make decisions on your behalf under ‘best interests’. This is the law developed to protect you if you are over 16 years old and lack capacity to make your own decisions.

When you are in hospital there may be a time when you are unable to make decisions about your care and treatment and the clinical team may need to make decisions on your behalf. This will always be what is best for you at the time and is known as a ‘best interest decision’. When we do this, we follow the Mental Capacity Act. It may be that this is permanent for some patients but also may be short term and we will always consult you/your family or carer in the decisions when it involves your care and treatment.

When you come into hospital, we need to make sure you have capacity to consent to the decision to be admitted for care and treatment. We will carry out an assessment and if we find you lack capacity, we will submit a referral for a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

If you have been assessed to lack capacity and the staff looking after you have to make decisions in your best interests, the staff will make an application to have you placed under a DoLS. These are to safeguard you and make sure you get the most appropriate care and treatment.

On admission, your mental capacity will be assessed to see if you can agree to the decision to be admitted for care and treatment. If you don’t have mental capacity – every decision made on your behalf will have to be checked. You may have capacity for some decisions and not others.