PES – Raising awareness of Adult Safeguarding Week (18-22 November)

21 November 2024

PES are helping to raise awareness of adult safeguarding issues in the community. Please see the below extract informing you of the opportunities you may be able to benefit from:

Primary Eyecare Services are proud to be supporting this campaign. We would like to encourage you to take the time to read the information we have provided; this includes key messaging, resources and links, to support you in implementing the best practice of safeguarding at work. 

What to Expect

Taking place from Monday, 18th November and running through until Friday, 22nd November, Primary Eyecare Services will be supporting the daily themes of Safeguarding Adults Week on our social media platforms and sharing valuable resources. We invite you to participate by sharing these resources with your teams and initiating discussions on safeguarding topics. It’s a timely opportunity to reflect on how we can incorporate these safeguarding principles in practices to protect and be able to flag any areas of concern for adult patients.

Safeguarding in optometry is crucial to meeting the standards set by the General Optical Council (GOC), which can be found here. By staying informed of best practices, we can ensure that environments remain safe and that practitioners are prepared to recognise signs and respond accordingly to protect patients. Optometrists can make a significant impact on protecting adults at risk and alongside other front-line healthcare practitioners, they have the responsibility to report safeguarding concerns as soon as possible.

Resources and Key Information

To aid in awareness and education, we’re sharing a selection of resources that can help support safeguarding issues which may occur in practice. We encourage you to review these resources and use them as tools to aid in understanding and responsibility within your teams.

Report any safeguarding concerns you have to Primary Eyecare Services via Blue Bubble or your clinical lead and we can support you. Additionally, you can contact the Quality Team, via quality@primaryeyecare.co.uk.

The Primary Eyecare Services Policy Pack contains referral forms and advice for when you need to make a safeguarding referral link. You can view the Policy Pack here:  https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/5af6fea80428631126f1fbe3/attachments/62687342a535c33d541a248a/PES-Policy-Suite-2022.pdf

If you need to find contact details for your local safeguarding team, these can be found via the NHS Safeguarding app, linked here: Safeguarding – NHS Safeguarding.

All optometrists can access free Safeguarding training through DOCET, which can be accessed via the following:

Safeguarding Adults for Optometrists Level 2 (Updated 2022)

Safeguarding Children for Optometrists (Updated 2022)

Breakdown of Safeguarding Adults Week 2024 Themes

Please see outlined below the daily themes that we have chosen for Safeguarding Adults Week 2024, which fall under the official overall theme of the campaign of ‘Prevention, Protection and Empowerment.’ You can find out more about the daily themes by reading our website article, linked here.

In addition, each day, we’ll be covering these themes across our social media channels. Make sure to follow us to keep up to date via the following channels; Twitter (X) @EyecareServices, LinkedIn ‘Primary Eyecare Services’, Instagram @eyecare_services and Facebook ‘Primary Eyecare’.

Daily Themes

Monday 18 November – Professional Curiosity 

Tuesday 19 November – Making Safeguarding Personal 

Wednesday 20 November – Domestic Abuse  

Thursday 21 November – County Lines and Cuckooing  

Friday 22 November – Professional and Organisational Learning  

Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 November – What Is Cyberbullying?

A Message from Our Professional Services Director and Designated Safeguarding Lead, Rupesh Bagdai

‘This week is an essential reminder that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. By raising awareness and acting proactively, we will support and enable individuals and organisations to better identify the signs of abuse and neglect and improve reporting.’