Safeguarding at the Royal Devon

Chief Nursing Officer (Executive Lead for Safeguarding & MCA) – Carolyn Mills

Director of Nursing – Northern Services (portfolio holder for Safeguarding & MCA) – Beverley Allingham

Associate Director of Safeguarding & MCA, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Lead & Modern Slavery Lead – Louise Barraclough

Head of Safeguarding & MCA, Named Professional for Safeguarding Adults, PREVENT and FGM Lead – Anna Brimacombe

Named Nurse Safeguarding Children - Laura Lethaby

Named Doctor Safeguarding Children – Dr Sadiya Gumi (North), Dr John-Paul Smith (East)

Named Midwife – Nikki Soper

Mental Capacity Act Professional Lead – Natalie Wensley

The Safeguarding Service at the Royal Devon is here to help and support staff with any concerns about safeguarding children and adults. We also work with other partner organisations when needed.  

Staff can contact the team via the details available on the Safeguarding pages of the staff intranet (HUB).

Safeguarding adults at risk means making sure people can live safely, without being abused or neglected.  It’s about everyone working together to stop abuse and to support people’s wellbeing, safety, and choices.

An adult, as defined by the Care Act 2014, is anyone aged 18 or over who needs care or support and might be at risk of abuse or neglect, or who may find it hard to protect themselves from harm.

At the Royal Devon, we are committed to protecting adults who may be at risk.  We work closely with other organisations like the police, local councils, the Care Quality Commission, other NHS Trusts, and independent care providers to make sure adults are kept safe.

Our Safeguarding Team is here to give advice and guide staff on how to protect adults from abuse or neglect.

Working Together to Keep Adults Safe

The Torbay and Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership (TDSAP) was set up in 2021 to lead and guide the work to keep adults safe across Torbay and Devon.

Find out here - Torbay and Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership (TDSAP)

If you see abuse happening, or if an adult tells you they’ve been abused, you should report it to Devon County Council.  You can call Care Direct on 0345 155 1007 or email adultsc.safeguardingadultservices-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

If you’re not sure what to do and want to talk about it first, you can contact the Devon County Council Safeguarding Adults Team on 01392 381208 for advice.

The Safeguarding Service makes sure the Royal Devon follows the law to keep children and young people safe, as set out in the Children Act (1989/2004) and Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023).

The main aims of the service are to:

• Make sure all children and young people are protected from harm
• Always put the child’s safety and wellbeing first, and listen to their voice
• Follow the South West Child Protection Procedures
• Use national and local guidance on safeguarding
• Work closely with the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership
• Encourage good safeguarding and child protection practice across the organisation

If you’re a member of the public, you can contact Front Door Services (the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub, or MASH) without giving your name.  If you have concerns about a child’s safety or think a child might be at risk, you can call the Front Door/MASH on 0345 155 1071.

Go here for more information about the services Front Door/MASH offers.

For information on Child Protection please go here: The Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership (Devon SCP)

If Police or Social Care professionals want to arrange a child protection medical assessment, they should follow the usual local procedures and refer to the Child Protection Assessment Referral Guidance.

If police or social care professionals need to talk about a child protection assessment, they can contact:

• North Devon District Hospital: Speak to the on-call Consultant Paediatrician through the switchboard at 01271 322577
• Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford): Speak to the on-call Paediatrician through the switchboard at 01392 411611

NHS Royal Devon | Modern Slavery Statement 

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is committed to ensuring that all of our patients and their families are cared for in a safe, secure and caring environment.

Our ethos is that Safeguarding is ‘Core Business’ and the protection of vulnerable children and adults at risk from abuse and neglect is embedded within all services provided by the Trust, across all our community services and hospital sites.

A number of safeguarding vulnerable people arrangements are in place, in line with legislation, best practice and local commissioning arrangements, which are detailed as follows:

• The Trust is compliant with statutory responsibilities, national and local guidance. The Trust delivers the safeguarding standards as defined by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Children's Act Section 11 arrangements, the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership (DSCP) and the Torbay and Devon Safeguarding Adult Partnership requirements. Evidence of compliance is reported quarterly and annually
  
  
• The Trust has clear lines of safeguarding accountability in place, which are accessible and promoted to staff. The Chief Nurse is the Executive Lead for Safeguarding and chairs the Integrated Safeguarding Committee. The Trust has Safeguarding Leads, Named Professionals, safeguarding and Mental Capacity Act (MCA) specialists in place who lead on safeguarding and MCA issues, acting on behalf of the Executive Lead for Safeguarding
  
  
• The Trust Board reviews safeguarding across the organisation through quarterly reports to the quality governance subcommittee of the Board
  
  
• There are robust safeguarding work plans and audit plans to ensure that safeguarding systems and processes are working effectively
  
  
• Staff are trained to a level appropriate to their role and responsibilities, based on the intercollegiate documents for adults and children and Working Together 2023
  
  
• Safeguarding policies and procedures are in place in line with national and local guidance, and reviewed on a regular basis. This includes safe recruitment policies which are in line with the statutory requirements to carry out Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Safeguarding information is available to staff through a dedicated intranet site
  
  
• The Trust has a robust process in place to follow up children who miss hospital appointments, to ensure their health is not affected in any way
  
  
• Processes are in place for the management of allegations against staff including the availability of a Trust Allegations Officer, in line with statutory guidance. The Safeguarding Lead works closely with the allegations officer and in partnership with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Police and Local Authority supporting any investigation process. Staff are encouraged to raise any concerns
  
  
• All staff have access to Safeguarding Supervision or reflective practice appropriate to their role and responsibilities
  
  
• The Trust contributes to National and Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Safeguarding Adults Reviews, Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews and other multi agency reviews; developing action plans and monitoring their implementation through the Safeguarding Operational groups
  
  
• Staff are fully engaged in multi-agency working, including information sharing to effectively safeguard. This includes a system for flagging children who are subject to a Child Protection Plan and the implementation of the national Child Protection Information Sharing System (CP-IS) in unscheduled care settings
  
  
• We are compliant and active members of the South West PREVENT Partnership meeting the requirements of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015), Modern Slavery Partnership (Modern Slavery Act, 2015) and the Community Safety Partnership
  
  
• Victims and survivors of domestic abuse are asked the ‘routine question’ and there is a Health Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) available to support patients and staff on each Acute Hospital site

August 2025

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 says that domestic abuse happens when someone behaves abusively towards another person they are ‘personally connected’ to.  This could be someone you’re married to, engaged to, in a relationship with, or related to.  Abuse can include:

• Physical abuse – like hitting, shoving, throwing things, or choking
• Sexual abuse – like pressuring someone into sex or touching them in ways they don’t want
• Emotional abuse – like putting someone down, controlling who they see, or isolating them from friends and family
• Threats and intimidation – like threatening to hurt or kill someone, following them, or harassing them
• Financial abuse – like controlling money or not giving someone enough money to live on
• Coercion and control – like stopping someone seeing friends, taking their money or telling them what they can and can’t do every day

The law also recognises that children are victims if they see, hear, or are affected by domestic abuse in their home.

At the Royal Devon, we take domestic abuse and sexual violence very seriously for both our patients and staff.  We aim to respond in a way that understands trauma and provides strong support:

• We have Health-Based Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) who support victims and help them get the right help through the Devon Domestic Abuse Alliance – ddaa.org.uk
• Our Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) support anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted, providing healthcare, ongoing therapy, and help from Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) – sarchelp.co.uk

Royal Devon is committed to the NHS Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) Programme, set up in 2022 to improve how the NHS supports patients and staff affected by abuse.  The named lead for this work is Louise Barraclough, Associate Director of Safeguarding and MCA.

At Royal Devon, we are committed to keeping everyone safe and supporting our communities.  Part of this is the PREVENT strategy, a national programme that aims to stop people from getting involved in extremism or terrorism.

PREVENT is part of the UK Government’s counter-terrorism strategy called CONTEST.  Its goal is to prevent radicalisation before any harm happens.  PREVENT is not about punishing people - it’s about giving early support, education, and protection.

We all have a part to play in safeguarding.  PREVENT helps us:

• Spot people who might be at risk of being drawn into extremist ideas
• Make sure they get the right support at the right time

PREVENT applies to all staff, patients, and visitors at Royal Devon:

• Staff are trained to recognise signs of vulnerability and know how to raise concerns
• Patients and families can trust that concerns will be handled carefully and confidentially
• Community members are encouraged to ask questions and share concerns—we’re here to listen

If someone is identified as at risk, they may be referred to the PREVENT team.  This is not a criminal investigation - it’s a safeguarding process.  People may be offered help through the Channel programme, which provides tailored support like mentoring, mental health help, or education.  Consent is asked for whenever possible, and all referrals are handled with care and confidentiality.

All Royal Devon staff complete mandatory PREVENT training.  You can learn more here:

• Prevent Duty Guidance
• NHS England - Prevent Training

If you have questions or want to speak to someone confidentially, you can contact our Safeguarding Team at rduh.safeguarding@nhs.net

PREVENT is one of the ways we keep people safe, and we do it with care, fairness, and compassion.