Safeguarding Policy for the League of Nurses of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and Associated Charities.
The League of Nurses of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital (‘The League’) founded in 1899, is a membership organisation for nurses who trained at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital (SBH) prior to 1993, and Registered Nurses who have worked at the SBH site for more than one year, who have applied and been accepted for membership, and have paid the annual or life membership subscription.
There are two charitable funds in association with The League (Registered charity no. 275165) namely The Scholarship Fund which offers financial support to members for courses of study, and The Benevolent Fund which provides financial support for members in times of financial need. The League is run by a voluntary Executive committee, and each of the two charitable funds by a voluntary committee, overseen by a voluntary Board of Trustees.
Safeguarding Statement
We recognise the importance of creating a safe and supportive environment where individuals can participate without fear of harm, harassment, or abuse.The League is committed to ensuring that all members, volunteers and beneficiaries can access the services of the League whether at events organised by the League, Committee and Trustee meetings, or as beneficiaries of the charities, in a safe way. We will do this by identifying possible risks, doing all we can to reduce possible harms and responding promptly and well if there is a problem. The League has a designated Safeguarding Lead who will respond to any report of harm, and the Trustees will monitor safeguarding and review this policy annually, or if there are any reports of harm.
Scope of the Policy
All of our members, volunteers and beneficiaries are adults. We recognise that some of our members may be vulnerable, in that they have needs for care and support due to illness, disability, frailty or cognitive impairment, and as a result may be less able to protect themselves from abuse. Abuse, harassment and harm can happen to anyone, can take many forms physical, mental and emotional, financial, discriminatory, and it may not be visible. All abuse is wrong, and everyone in the League has a role to play in protecting against it.
The League is committed to non-discriminatory practices and works to ensure that all members receive equal opportunity to access the services offered by the League. Applications for charitable funds are presented to the committees for consideration in anonymised form, with no reference to age, gender, or other characteristic. The details of the applicants are known only to the secretary and treasurer of the charity for the purposes of processing the application and funding. All personal data is held in accordance with GDPR legislation (2010).
Reporting procedure for Safeguarding concerns
In an emergency, or if you have any immediate concerns for a person’s safety, you should call the police on 999.
Concerns about an adult who may be a member of the League, but where the concern does not relate to League activities should be addressed to the Adult Safeguarding Team for the County Council where the person lives. Numbers are available on the internet or by telephoning the council.
If you have any concerns about Safeguarding, or if you wish to discuss or report an instance of abuse, harassment or any other harm relating to the work or an activity of the League and associated charities please contact the Safeguarding Lead, (who is the League President), on president@bartsleagueofnursing.org. You will receive an email acknowledgment within 14 days wherever possible. The safeguarding lead will investigate the concern, and if appropriate, discuss it with another Trustee, and take professional advice from the Adult Safeguarding Lead for Barts Health NHS Trust. No-one directly involved in the matter of concern will be involved in the investigation. If you do not have access to email you may write to the League postal address but a response may take longer as the post box is not checked regularly.
A written reply to the concern will be sent by the Safeguarding Lead within 28 days of the acknowledgement letter, if the investigation is not complete, an update will be sent with a timetable for completion.
The Trustees will be informed by the Safeguarding Lead annually at their November meeting of any concerns raised in the past year unless more urgent reporting is necessary.
If you have a complaint or comment about the work or activities of the League and associated charities that is not a safeguarding concern, then please see the General Complaints Policy.
Elizabeth Wood-Dow OBE
President
Policy ratified by the Trustees May 2025 and published on League website.
For review by the Trustees November 2026