Our safeguarding approach

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) prioritises ‘Think Family’ safeguarding as an essential part of providing high quality care.

‘Think Family’ safeguarding recognises that neither adults nor children exist in isolation, and therefore promotes a whole family approach, irrespective of the structure of the family. 

By working within the ‘Think Family’ safeguarding model, EMAS ensures all patients, staff and members of the public are treated with dignity and respect; and all staff recognise that safeguarding is ‘everyone’s business’.

EMAS has a responsibility to report any incident where there are grounds to suggest that an adult or child is at risk of/or suffering abuse or where there are concerns about an individual’s circumstances.

Our Safeguarding team are responsible for ensuring that we are compliant with The Care Act 2014 and The Children Act (1989, 2004).
EMAS has a role not to investigate concerns, but to ensure that staff are able to recognise and respond to individuals who are at risk of harm, or individuals who are known or suspected to have harmed; and ensure that these concerns are passed to the relevant agencies so that appropriate action can be taken.

When any safeguarding concerns relating to children, including unborn babies, are identified by EMAS, referrals will be made to Children’s Social Care and any other appropriate agencies. Referrals may be made to relevant agencies without consent when high risk indicators of domestic abuse are suspected or confirmed. All safeguarding referrals are shared with our patients’ GPs where possible.

EMAS has a safeguarding training strategy and program that considers legislative duties and national guidance. Safeguarding training is completed by all staff. The level of training depends on the staff role and is in line with national practice.

We work in partnership with all the local safeguarding adult boards and safeguarding children partnerships across the East Midlands. We also contribute to the Child Death Overview Process (CDOP) and LeDeR process.

EMAS also work closely with safeguarding leads in other ambulance trusts across the United Kingdom.

Single point of contact for the Safeguarding team  

Please contact ecasnt.EMASSafeguardingManagementTeam@nhs.net

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