Look Ahead > For our customers > Tenant handbook > Safeguarding and Quality

Safeguarding and Quality

Look Ahead is committed to providing safe and quality services to all of our customers.

For more information about how we keep people safe, click here.

This page will provide you with some key information to help keep you safe, as well as how we ensure that we provide a quality service to all of our customers.

 

Safeguarding

What is abuse?

Everyone has the right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

Abuse and neglect can happen anywhere, for example in a service, on the street, at school or college, at work, at home etc.

There are many different types of abuse, these can include:

For example, being hit, slapped, pushed or restrained, being denied food, water or medication, not being allowed to use the bathroom etc.

For example, being put down or humiliated, made to feel anxious, being threatened, withdrawal of social and support networks etc.

For example, someone stealing your money, internet scams, or someone who is appointed to look after your money using it in a way that you are not happy with.

For example, leaving you wet or dirty, not providing you with enough or the right kind of food, not helping you to wash or change clothes etc.

For example, sexual harassment, rape, indecent exposure, inappropriate looking or touching, being forced to watch pornography, being coerced into taking part in sexual acts etc.

Behaviour of one person towards another person is domestic abuse if those persons are aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other and the behaviour is abusive

How can I tell if someone is being abused?

Abuse and neglect are not easy to spot, although there are some potential signs to look out for.

These can include:

  • Changes in personality
  • Unexplained injuries
  • Changes in physical appearance i.e. weight, looking dirty or unkempt
  • Items missing

What should I do if am or suspect someone is being abused?

Do not worry about making a fuss, it is important that you raise any concerns as soon as possible.

  • Talk to staff or a Manager at your service
  • Call police on 999 if it is an emergency
  • Contact your local authority for any concerns about other people
  • Contact NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 for concerns regarding children

Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse can encompass but is not limited to:

  • psychological
  • physical
  • sexual
  • financial
  • emotional

Controlling behaviour is:

A range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

Coercive behaviour is:

An act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. This definition includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage.

Getting online has lots of benefits, but can also be risky at times. These risks can include:

  • Scams
    • For example email scams, fake websites, relationship scams, and health scams.
    • Watch out for anything with spelling errors, requests for sensitive information, or any time-sensitive requests.
  • Phishing emails or texts.
    • Don’t click any links or attachments from email addresses or numbers that you do not recognise.
  • Viruses
    • Some websites, links or attachments might cause your device to become infected with a virus, this can compromise your security and any data that is kept on your device. You can install anti-virus software on your computer to help prevent this.
  • Fraud
    • Keep your passwords strong and be careful with how much personal information you share, and who you are sharing it with.
  • Grooming
    • Be aware of how much you share on social media, and who you are sharing it with. Be careful when talking to people that you don’t know online.
  • Cyberbullying or ‘trolling’
    • Online bullying is just as serious as bullying that takes place face-to-face and is becoming more common. You can report instances of online bullying or abuse to the police.

If you have been a victim of a scam or fraud, contact Action Fraud. Contact the police, then Action Fraud if you’re worried something might be a scam or you think you’ve been scammed. The information you give to Action Fraud can help track down the scammer.

Quality

To help us ensure that we deliver high quality services we have a dedicated Quality team who undertake regular audits. These occur at least once every two years – more frequently if a service is rated as ‘Requires Improvement’.

We assess our services against a quality standards framework that covers 5 key areas:

  • Safe – Do our services keep customers, staff and any visitors safe?
  • Effective – Does the support provided make a positive difference in customer’s lives
  • Caring – Do staff care about the work they do and treat customers with respect and dignity
  • Responsive – Can customers shape the type of service they receive and provide feedback
  • Well Led – Is the culture of the service right, and staff trained and supported appropriately

 

How do I know how my service is doing

Each service is then given a rating of either ‘Outstanding’ ‘Good’ or ‘Requires Improvement’. The service manager then completes monthly improvement plans to ensure that they are implementing the changes suggested by the Quality team and also displays the quality audit outcomes poster.

We aim to have at least 85% of all services rated as either ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ (for more information please click here to read about our performance).

 

How we involve our customers

Quality auditors speak to customers at the service to hear about what they think about the service and their experience. This feedback informs the final report and quality rating.

We also involve our customers and lived experience volunteers within these audits as Quality Checkers. Quality Checkers visit our services alongside managers to check the standard and quality of our services. Customers bring their experiences of using services to give feedback and suggest areas where improvements can be made.

Quality Checkers are trained, get to meet customers and staff from across our services and play an important part in helping to make sure we deliver great services.

To find out more about becoming a Quality Checker, click here.

Alongside this, our services are also subject to audits by Heads of Operations, Peer Audits (done by other service managers), and self audits. This allows us to keep track of how well our services are meeting the standards that we promise to deliver, and ensures we continue to provide an excellent service to our customers.

 

CQC Registered Services

Some of our services are also regulated by the Care Quality Commission, this applies where we provide personal care to our customers.

To see how these services were rated at their last CQC inspection, click here.

If you have concerns about the quality of your service, please let us know by contacting quality@lookahead.org.uk