Coronavirus – Safeguarding Children & Adults:
Information and Updates
(Updated Tuesday 7th April)
During the current Coronavirus outbreak we still need to help keep children and adults at risk safe from abuse and neglect and share up to date information with the public and professionals. The threat the country is facing from COVID-19 is evolving by the day and is placing the residents of Brighton and Hove in a position of real vulnerability. We are seeing many examples of positive action from communities, with offers of help and support from networks of volunteers and agencies across the public and private sectors.
At the same time a picture is emerging of a number of safeguarding issues and areas of exploitation that are a direct result of the pandemic. A significant concern of the Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership (BHSCP) and the Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Adults Board (B&HSAB) is that much of this abuse may be hidden, particularly with people living in isolation, perhaps with perpetrators of abuse, and with the additional current issue that professionals are not able to visit clients as frequently.
We ask everyone – the public, volunteers and professionals from all sectors – to be particularly vigilant in identifying and reporting any concerns if you feel that a child or adult is at risk or is experiencing abuse or neglect. If you have a safeguarding concern about a child, please contact Front Door For Families or any concerns about an adult, please contact Health and Adult Social Care.
The BHSCP and B&HSAB would like to thank all our partner agencies for their hard and dedicated work in the current challenging circumstances.
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Update from Brighton & Hove City Council’s Children’s Services
Phone: 01273 290400
Out-of-hours: 01273 335905 (Emergency Duty Service).
Please leave a voicemail and a member of staff will get back to you.
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Update from Sussex Police
Functions continue to operate as normal although much of the business has moved to the virtual space where appropriate and possible.
As a general note, police are responding to the new legislation with regards to reducing social gatherings and movement, our approach is based on 4 E’s – engage, explain, encourage and as a last resort enforcement.
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Update from Health
At this stage services across the system are operating as normal. Clinical practitioners across the health services may be redeployed to frontline health care facilities to meet the demand of increased pressure on hospitals. This may include paediatricians who may be asked to support clinical work with adults.