Our safeguarding commitment
Safeguarding means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. As a CQC-regulated home care provider rated Good, Helping at Home takes that responsibility seriously, and it shapes how we recruit, train and supervise our carers. If you ever have a concern about someone we care for, you can raise it with us, with your local council, or directly with CQC. You don’t need to be certain. You only need to be worried.
What safeguarding means in practice
Adults who need care and support can be more at risk of abuse or neglect, sometimes from people they know. The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local councils to look into concerns about an adult at risk, whether or not the council arranges that person’s care.
For us, safeguarding isn’t a policy that sits in a folder. It’s the day-to-day habit of knowing the people we visit well enough to notice when something isn’t right, and acting on it.
The types of harm we watch for
The Care Act sets out the recognised categories of abuse and neglect. Our carers are trained to recognise the signs of:
- Physical abuse
- Neglect and acts of omission
- Psychological or emotional abuse
- Financial or material abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Domestic abuse
- Discriminatory abuse
- Organisational or institutional abuse
- Modern slavery
- Self-neglect
A sign on its own doesn’t prove abuse. It’s a reason to look closer, ask gently, and report a concern so the right people can decide what, if anything, needs to happen.
How we help reduce risk
We can’t promise that nothing will ever go wrong in anyone’s life. What we can do is build a service designed to spot problems early and respond properly.
- Carefully recruited carers. Every carer has an enhanced DBS check, paid for by us, before they start.
- Directly employed, never agency. All our carers are employed by Helping at Home. We never use agency staff, so the people in your Mum or Dad’s home are known to us, trained by us and accountable to us.
- Safeguarding training from day one. Safeguarding is part of induction through the Care Certificate, and is refreshed every year alongside our other mandatory training.
- Regular supervision. Carers have regular supervision and appraisal with senior staff, where concerns and observations are discussed.
- A written record of every visit. Carers log notes and observations through our Birdie care system after each visit, which gives us a clear, time-stamped record and helps us notice changes over time.
- Care planned around the person. A clear care plan, reviewed as needs change, means everyone knows what good looks like for that individual.
How to raise a safeguarding concern
If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
If it isn’t an emergency but you’re worried about someone we care for, you have three routes. You can use any of them. You do not have to come to us first.
1. Tell Helping at Home. Call us on 01636 646915 or email hello@helpingathome.co.uk and ask to speak to Courtney Pike, our Registered Manager. We will listen, act to make sure the person is safe, and report the concern to the local council where we are required to.
2. Tell the local council directly. The council has the legal duty to look into safeguarding concerns. Which council depends on where the person lives.
- Nottinghamshire (Newark, Bingham, Ollerton, Southwell, Retford and surrounding villages): call 0300 500 8080. Out of hours, the Emergency Duty Team is 0300 456 4546.
- Lincolnshire (Grantham and villages such as Bottesford and Long Bennington): call 01522 782155. Out of hours, the Emergency Duty Team is 01522 782333.
3. Tell CQC. The Care Quality Commission regulates us. CQC can’t investigate individual complaints, but it wants to know about concerns and uses that information to monitor providers. You can find us and contact CQC through our regulated provider profile.
What happens after a concern is raised
When a concern is raised with us, we act quickly to make sure the person is safe, then report it to the relevant council safeguarding team where the threshold is met. We co-operate fully with any council enquiry, keep a clear record, and keep the right family members informed where it’s appropriate to do so. Where a concern points to something we could do better, we change how we work.
You won’t get anyone into trouble by asking
Families sometimes worry that raising a concern will cause a fuss, or make things awkward with a carer they like. It won’t. We would always rather you told us about something small that turned out to be nothing than stayed quiet about something that mattered. Our carers are encouraged to speak up too, and no one is ever penalised for raising a safeguarding concern in good faith.
If your concern is about the quality of our service rather than safety, our complaints process explains how to raise it and what to expect.
Common questions
What should I do if I think a family member is being abused or neglected? If they’re in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise you can call Helping at Home on 01636 646915, or contact the local council safeguarding team directly: Nottinghamshire on 0300 500 8080 or Lincolnshire on 01522 782155. You don’t need proof, just a genuine concern.
Do I have to report a concern through Helping at Home? No. You can go straight to the local council or to CQC if you prefer. The council has the legal duty to look into safeguarding concerns about adults at risk.
Are your carers checked and trained in safeguarding? Yes. Every carer has an enhanced DBS check before they start, completes safeguarding training during induction through the Care Certificate, and refreshes that training every year. All our carers are directly employed by Helping at Home, never agency staff.
What happens after I raise a concern with you? We act to make sure the person is safe, report the concern to the relevant council safeguarding team where required, and co-operate with any enquiry. We keep a record and keep the right family members updated where it’s appropriate.
