All staff at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (SWBT) have a duty to safeguard the welfare of children (aged 0-18 years) who use our services; this is a responsibility we take seriously. We will always take action if we are concerned about a child’s welfare.
Safeguarding is everybody’s business and we all have a part to play in ensuring children are safe and not at risk of harm or abuse.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
- Protecting children from maltreatment;
- Preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
- Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
- Taking action to enable all children have the best outcomes.
“Working together to safeguard children” (July 2018 addendum December 2020)
SWBT is required statutorily to ensure we are compliant with Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 and with the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations (2009). This means we are required to have an Executive Lead for Safeguarding, which is our Chief Nurse Mel Roberts to oversee the effectiveness of our safeguarding arrangements.
We have a Safeguarding Children Team based at Sandwell General Hospital covering both hospital sites and community paediatric services including health visiting. The team consists of a lead nurse for safeguarding children, named midwife, named nurses, named doctor and additional nurse specialists. The team advise and support staff on any safeguarding concerns, deliver training, undertake audit, and participate in multi-agency meetings as part of the requirement of our local Safeguarding Children Boards to ensure systems and processes are in place to safeguard children.
Staff are given clear guidelines to follow if they have cause for concern over the welfare of a child. Examples of causes for concern are:
- If a member of staff directly witnessing the abuse of a child
- If a member of staff receives information regarding the suspected abuse of a child
- If a member of staff identifies signs and symptoms suggestive of abuse
- If a member of staff may identifies injuries and indicators that do not match the history given
- A child may disclose information regarding themselves
- A member of staff may be concerned about the behaviour of a parent or carer concerning information such as A&E alerts, Child Protection plan
- Any other concerning information from other sources e.g. repeated attendance at A&E
Contact details:
Members of the public who are concerned about the welfare of a child should contact the Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub below:
Sandwell Contact Centre: 0121 569 3100
Birmingham Children’s Advice and Support Service: 0121 303 1888
Out-of-hours numbers (remain the same as above)
For immediate action (risk of injury or loss of life) call the police on 999 or 101 for non-emergencies.
Safeguarding and Looked after Children Team at SWBT
Safeguarding Office,
Hallam Building, Sandwell General Hospital,
Lyndon, West Bromwich,
West Midlands, B71 4HJ
0121 507 2844 (Mon-Fri)
Statutory Information for Patients
- Privacy and Cookies
- Privacy and Dignity
- Safeguarding Adults
- Safeguarding Children
- Safeguarding Declaration
- NHS Treatment – Who has to pay?
- Data Protection – What Happens to my Information?
- National Fraud Initiative
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Data Protection Friends and Family Test
- Research and Development Performance
- Patient Formulary Report
- Patients & Visitors