We are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. This includes our staff, volunteers and all those who use or come into contact with our work and our services.
We recognise that all our people have the right to protection from all types of harm or abuse, regardless of race, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, or belief. We work closely with partner organisations to ensure that we follow safeguarding best practice.
Marie Curie has a comprehensive safeguarding policy, the implementation of which is the responsibility of the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). We have a designated trustee safeguarding lead; a head of safeguarding; a charity-wide Safeguarding Assurance Group (SAG) and named safeguarding leads in our hospices and Hospice Care at Home services, and our Volunteering, Retail, Public Relations, Marketing, Policy and Research and Fundraising teams.
We have robust processes in place to ensure that the people who join our organisation through employment or volunteering, are suitable for their roles. Additionally, we have a code of conduct for all staff and volunteers.
We take the safety and wellbeing of our staff and volunteers seriously. As such we have systems and processes in place to identify and assess potential areas of risk across all our activities; and we ensure remedial plans are put in place to manage these risks. We encourage everyone to raise concerns through ‘speak up champions’ in different areas of the charity. This approach is detailed in our Freedom to Speak Up (including whistleblowing) Policy and Procedure.
All our staff, volunteers, trustees, and executives are trained to recognise signs which could indicate that a child or adult at risk may be being abused or neglected. This training also includes wider Charity Commission requirements to recognise and report incidents involving our staff and volunteers. We actively encourage our staff, volunteers and those who use or come into contact with our services, to speak up about things which they think could cause harm to people. And we act promptly when concerns have been raised. We will not tolerate any behaviours or practices which could lead to anyone being abused and/or exploited by our people.
We highly value the contribution of our staff and volunteers and offer them a range of support to help them manage the sometimes challenging nature of our work. We are committed to creating not just a safe place to work, but also a supportive and rewarding one.