Safeguarding and Raising Concerns
Bluebell Haven Care is committed to promoting safety, dignity and wellbeing. This page explains how to recognise and raise a safeguarding concern, what information to provide and where to seek urgent help in West Sussex.
IF SOMEONE MAY BE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER
Do not wait for Bluebell Haven Care
Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger, a serious crime may be taking place or there is a life-threatening emergency.
For urgent medical help that is not life-threatening, use NHS 111 online or call 111. Bluebell Haven Care’s website, forms and email address are not monitored as emergency services.
OUR SAFEGUARDING COMMITMENT
Safety, dignity and wellbeing come first
Bluebell Haven Care takes concerns about abuse, neglect, exploitation, unsafe practice and avoidable harm seriously. We want individuals, families, workers, Personal Assistant candidates and organisations to feel able to speak up when something does not feel safe or right.
We will listen, consider immediate risk, make an accurate record and take proportionate action. Where necessary, this may include sharing relevant information with the police, the local authority safeguarding team, another responsible organisation or an appropriate professional body.
Bluebell Haven Care is not a police, emergency, medical or statutory safeguarding authority. Raising a concern with us must not delay an urgent referral to the appropriate public service.
RECOGNISING A CONCERN
Safeguarding concerns can take many forms
Physical or sexual abuse
This may include hitting, pushing, inappropriate restraint, deliberately causing pain, unwanted sexual contact, sexual exploitation or any sexual activity where a person cannot freely agree.
Psychological, emotional or domestic abuse
This may include threats, humiliation, intimidation, bullying, coercive control, isolation, harassment or controlling behaviour by a partner, relative, worker or another person.
Financial or material abuse
This may include stealing or misusing money, pressuring someone about purchases or property, fraud, scams, withholding money or exploiting a person’s financial dependence.
Neglect, acts of omission or self-neglect
This may include failing to meet essential needs, ignoring risks, withholding necessary support, unsafe living conditions or a person being unable or unwilling to care for their own essential wellbeing.
Discriminatory abuse, hate or harassment
This may include harmful or degrading treatment connected with a person’s disability, race, age, religion, sex, gender identity, sexuality, culture or another aspect of their identity.
Modern slavery, exploitation or forced labour
This may include trafficking, forced work, withholding pay or documents, controlling a person’s movement, sexual exploitation or using threats and dependency to prevent someone from leaving.
Organisational abuse or unsafe practice
This may involve repeated poor practice, inadequate staffing, unsafe systems, inappropriate restrictions, failures to respond to concerns or workplace cultures that place people at risk.
Concerns involving a child
A concern may relate to physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, exploitation, domestic abuse, online harm or any situation where a child may be suffering or at risk of significant harm.
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
RAISE A CONCERN WITH BLUEBELL
Tell us as soon as something feels unsafe
For a safeguarding concern connected with Bluebell Haven Care, email support@bluebellhavencare.co.uk and use the subject line “Safeguarding concern – confidential”.
Tell us who may be at risk, what happened or caused concern, when and where it occurred, whether anyone is in immediate danger, what action has already been taken and how we can contact you.
Do not wait until you have every detail. Provide the information you know, but do not send medical records, care plans, identity documents, bank details or other sensitive attachments unless Bluebell Haven Care or a statutory authority specifically requests them through an appropriate secure process.
Report a safeguarding concern in West Sussex
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Adult safeguarding in West Sussex
Report an Adult Safeguarding ConcernIf an adult with care and support needs may be experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, use West Sussex County Council’s adult safeguarding referral route.
Immediate danger: call 999.
Public telephone: 01243 642121.
For an urgent concern requiring a same-day response outside usual working hours: 033 022 27007.
Professionals should follow their organisation’s safeguarding procedure. If professional advice is still required, the West Sussex adult safeguarding hub number is 033 022 28400. -
Child safeguarding in West Sussex
Raise a Concern About a ChildIf a child is in immediate danger or has been badly hurt, call 999.
For children’s social care enquiries and office-hours concerns, Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, call 01403 229900.
NGT Text Relay: 18001 01403 229900.
For an urgent concern that cannot wait until office hours, call the Emergency Duty Team on 033 022 26664.
What happens after a safeguarding concern is raised?
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1. Consider immediate safety
We identify whether anyone may be in immediate danger and whether urgent contact with emergency services or a statutory safeguarding authority is required.
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2. Record and clarify
We create a factual record of the concern, preserve relevant information and seek clarification where this can be done safely without delaying protective action.
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3. Refer or share information
Where necessary, we share relevant and proportionate information with the police, local authority, client organisation or another responsible body.
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4. Review and follow up
We review any Bluebell Haven Care process, worker, assignment, recruitment decision or introduction connected with the concern and take appropriate next steps.
CONFIDENTIALITY, RESPONSIBILITIES AND SPEAKING UP
What you can expect when raising a concern
Will my concern remain confidential?
We will treat safeguarding information carefully and limit access to people who need it. However, we cannot promise absolute confidentiality.
Relevant information may need to be shared with the police, a local authority safeguarding team, another organisation or an appropriate professional body where this is necessary to protect someone, assess risk or meet a legal responsibility.
Do I need the person’s consent before reporting?
Where it is safe and appropriate, an adult’s views and wishes should be considered. Do not seek consent if doing so could increase risk, place another person in danger or delay necessary protective action.
Where a child may be at risk, information may be shared without consent when there is a lawful basis and sharing is necessary to safeguard the child.
What information should I provide?
Share the minimum information needed to understand the concern: who may be at risk, what happened, when and where it occurred, whether the danger is ongoing, what action has already been taken and how you can be contacted.
Do not investigate the matter yourself or collect unnecessary personal information.
What if the concern involves a Bluebell Haven Care worker?
Raise the concern with Bluebell Haven Care and use the appropriate external safeguarding or emergency route where necessary.
Bluebell may take immediate protective management action, preserve records, review whether the person should continue working and cooperate with any external safeguarding, police or employment process.
What if the concern involves a Personal Assistant introduced by Bluebell?
Bluebell Haven Care does not direct or manage the Personal Assistant’s ongoing work after an introduction.
We will nevertheless act on concerns connected with our search, screening or introduction process and share relevant information where necessary. The individual, representative or direct employer should also use the appropriate statutory safeguarding or police route.
What if the concern arises during a staffing assignment?
Notify Bluebell Haven Care and the organisation’s safeguarding lead or responsible manager without delay.
The hiring organisation should take immediate local action to protect people in its service, while Bluebell reviews the worker’s assignment, employment or engagement arrangements and cooperates with relevant external agencies.
Can workers raise concerns through whistleblowing?
Yes. Workers should raise concerns about wrongdoing, risks to health or safety, legal breaches or the concealment of wrongdoing through Bluebell Haven Care’s whistleblowing procedure or another appropriate reporting route.
A whistleblowing disclosure generally needs to be made in the public interest to qualify for legal protection. A personal employment grievance should normally be raised through the grievance procedure unless it also involves a wider public-interest concern.
For further information about protected disclosures, who to tell and the legal protections available, read Whistleblowing for employees on GOV.UK.
Is a complaint the same as a safeguarding concern?
Not always. A complaint may relate to communication, service quality, fees, delays or another experience without indicating abuse or neglect.
Where a complaint includes a risk of harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation, safeguarding action must take priority. Other complaints can be submitted through the Complaints and Feedback page.
SPEAK UP EARLY
You do not need proof before raising a concern
Share what you have seen, heard, experienced or been told. Do not put yourself at risk, confront someone where it may be unsafe or delay an urgent referral while trying to investigate.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. For a concern connected with Bluebell Haven Care that is not an emergency, contact us promptly and use the appropriate West Sussex safeguarding route where necessary.