Keeping you safe
Making sure that our patients are safe while in our care is one of our highest priorities.
Safeguarding our patients
Safeguarding Adults
Our Safeguarding Adults team ensures we provide high quality care to prevent safeguarding concerns and provides an effective response where harm or abuse does occur. Some adults are more vulnerable to abuse, so we work with other agencies such as social services and the Police to promote patient safety and provide advice and support. Find out more about Safeguarding Adults in Gloucestershire on the Gloucestershire County Council website.
Safeguarding Children
We also have a duty of care to safeguard the welfare of children and young people while they are at our hospitals. We do this by providing our staff with child protection awareness training and ensuring that we can identify, protect and care for those at risk. Find out more about Safeguarding Children in Gloucestershire on the Gloucestershire County Council website.
Lasting power of attorney for health and welfare (LPA)
A registered lasting power of attorney (LPA) allows you to give someone you trust the legal power to make decisions on your behalf in case you become unable to make decisions for yourself.
The person who makes the LPA is known as the 'donor' and the person given the power to make decisions is known as the 'attorney'.
If you or your next of kin have appointed an attorney for health and welfare, please make sure this is logged with our legal service department and we will ensure this is added to our patient records.
You should also make this known to a staff member as soon as you arrive in the hospital, and we will ask you to provide us with a copy of the registered attorney document.
You can provide your attorney document to the Trust in the following ways:
- bring a registered copy with you when you are admitted
- by emailing it in advance to the access office at ghn-tr.ssip-requests@nhs.net
- by posting it in advance to the Legal Services Department, West Block, Cheltenham General Hospital, GL53 7AN
- by calling us on 0300 422 3160 Monday to Thursday between 9am and 5pm
The clinical team will always check the identity of your attorney.
Controlling infections
We take infection prevention and control very seriously. It is a fundamental part of the everyday care of patients, and every member of staff within the hospital is committed to upholding a high standard of infection control.
Although the risk of getting an infection while in hospital is low, careful attention to the prevention and control of infections is a high priority for us. Through a variety of initiatives, we have performed well against targets to reduce the incidence and spread of healthcare associated infections like MRSA and Clostridium difficile. We have robust plans in place to do this, but you can also help us by:
- washing your hands with soap and water and/or using the alcohol hand gels when you enter or leave a ward or department
- telling a member of staff when the alcohol gel dispenser is empty
- politiely challenging a member of staff if you notice they have not washed their hands or used alcohol gel when they are treating you or another patient
- staying at home if you have a cold, infection or stomach upset, only visiting if you have been symptom free for 72 hours
- sitting on a chair at a patient's bedside, not the bed
- telling a member of staff if you have any concerns about the cleanliness of our wards or departments.
Reducing harm
We're committed to learning from past mistakes to ensure that the quality and safety of our care is always improving. Read more about our commitment to safety.
Safe staffing levels
We publish our monthly staffing figures so that you can be reassured there are always enough staff on our wards to keep you safe. Read more about our staffing levels.
Modern Slavery
We fully support the Government’s objectives to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking.
Go to our Modern Slavery page for details