Keeping you safe

Safeguarding our patients

Safeguarding Adults

Our Safeguarding Adults team ensures we provide high quality care to prevent safeguarding concerns and provides an effective response where harm or abuse does occur. Some adults are more vulnerable to abuse, so we work with other agencies such as social services and the Police to promote patient safety and provide advice and support. Find out more about Safeguarding Adults in Gloucestershire on the Gloucestershire County Council website.

Safeguarding Children

We also have a duty of care to safeguard the welfare of children and young people while they are at our hospitals. We do this by providing our staff with child protection awareness training and ensuring that we can identify, protect and care for those at risk. Find out more about Safeguarding Children in Gloucestershire on the Gloucestershire County Council website.

Lasting power of attorney for health and welfare (LPA)

A registered lasting power of attorney (LPA) allows you to give someone you trust the legal power to make decisions on your behalf in case you become unable to make decisions for yourself.

The person who makes the LPA is known as the 'donor' and the person given the power to make decisions is known as the 'attorney'.

You should also make this known to a member of staff as soon as you arrive in hospital, and we will ask you to provide us with a copy of the registered attorney document.

You can provide your attorney document to the Trust in the following ways:

• bring a registered copy with you when you are admitted
• by email it in advance to the access office at ghn-tr.TAOGlosH@nhs.net
• by posting it in advance to Legal Services Department, West Block, Cheltenham General Hospital, GL53 7AN
• by calling us on 0300 422 3160 Monday to Thursday between 9am and 5pm

The identity of your attorney will always be checked by the clinical team.

Controlling infections

We take infection prevention and control very seriously. It is a fundamental part of the everyday care of patients, and every member of staff within the hospital is committed to upholding a high standard of infection control.

Although the risk of getting an infection while in hospital is low, careful attention to the prevention and control of infections is a high priority for us. Through a variety of initiatives, we have performed well against targets to reduce the incidence and spread of healthcare associated infections like MRSA and Clostridium difficile. We have robust plans in place to do this, but you can also help us by:

• washing your hands with soap and water and/or using the alcohol hand gels when you enter or leave a ward or department
• telling a member of staff when the alcohol gel dispenser is empty
• politiely challenging a member of staff if you notice they have not washed their hands or used alcohol gel when they are treating you or another patient
• staying at home if you have a cold, infection or stomach upset, only visiting if you have been symptom free for 72 hours
• sitting on a chair at a patient's bedside, not the bed
• telling a member of staff if you have any concerns about the cleanliness of our wards or departments.

Reducing harm

We're committed to learning from past mistakes to ensure that the quality and safety of our care is always improving. Read more about our commitment to safety.

Safe staffing levels

We publish our monthly staffing figures so that you can be reassured there are always enough staff on our wards to keep you safe. Read more about our staffing levels.

Modern Slavery

We fully support the Government’s objectives to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking.

We fully support the Government’s objectives to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking.

Modern slavery is the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. Individuals may be trafficked into, out of or within the UK, and they may be trafficked for a number of reasons including sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude and organ harvesting.

The Trust (GHNHSFT) fully supports the Government’s objectives to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking and recognises the significant role the NHS has to play. We are strongly committed to ensuring our supply chains and operational activities are free from ethical and labour standards abuses.

Slavery and human trafficking statement for financial year 2018/19

During the last financial year the Trust took, and continues to take, the following steps to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place:

• We confirm the identities of all new employees and their right to work in the United Kingdom
• All staff are appointed subject to references, health checks, immigration checks and identity checks. This ensures that we can be confident, before staff commence duties, that they have a legal right to work within our Trust
• We have a set of values and behaviours that staff are expected to comply with, and all candidates are expected to demonstrate these attributes as part of the selection process
• By adopting the national pay, terms and conditions of service, we have the assurance that all staff will be treated fairly and will comply with the latest legislation. This includes the assurance that staff received, at least, the national minimum wage from 1 April 2015
• We have various employment policies and procedures in place designed to provide guidance and advice to staff and managers but also to comply with employment legislation
• Our equality and diversity, grievance, respect and dignity at work for staff policies additionally give a platform for our employees to raise concerns about poor working practices
• Our policies and practices promote and support diversity and inclusion both as an employer and service provider; we recognise and acknowledge that diversity and inclusion are key corporate social responsibilities and a Diversity Network for all staff has been in place since 2017
• Our mandatory safeguarding training includes modern slavery as a topic; all clinical staff receive training as part of our Trust bespoke level 2 safeguarding adult e-learning training and also level 3 safeguarding adult training
• Our Trust “Safeguarding Adult at Risk Policy”, and the countywide multi-agency safeguarding policy, to which our Trust is a partner signatory, also includes modern slavery and we have produced communications materials to raise awareness amongst staff and anyone working on or otherwise attending our sites
• Our Freedom to Speak: Raising Concerns (Whistleblowing) Policy gives a platform for employees to raise concerns for further investigation, and our Freedom To Speak Up Guardian and Safeguarding teams actively ensure they are accessible to staff
• Our standard terms and conditions require suppliers to comply with relevant legislation. A large proportion of the goods and services procured are sourced through Government supply frameworks and contracts also require suppliers to comply with relevant legislation

Review of effectiveness

We intend to take further steps to identify, assess and monitor potential risk areas in terms of modern slavery and human trafficking, particularly within supply chains. We aim to:

• Raise awareness and support our staff to understand and respond to modern slavery and human trafficking, and the impact that each and every individual working at our Trust can have in keeping present and potential future victims of modern slavery and human trafficking safe
• Ensure that all staff continue to have access to training on modern slavery and human trafficking which will provide the latest information and the skills to deal with it
• Embed Social Value best practice into commercial processes which will achieve improved Social Value awareness and compliance across all our commercial activities
• Impact assess all new or reviewed policies for diversity and inclusion compliance

The Board of Directors has considered and approved this statement and will continue to support the requirements of the legislation.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ended 31 March 2019.