At the Trust we are committed to ensuring that no modern slavery or human trafficking takes place in any part of our business or our supply chain.

We are fully aware of the responsibilities we hold towards our service users, employees and local communities.

We are guided by a strict set of ethical values in all of our business dealings and expect our suppliers (i.e. all companies that we do business with) to adhere to these same principles.

We have zero tolerance for slavery and human trafficking.

Policies

The Trust has a number of policies relevant to exploitation and human trafficking and exploitation and has joint guidance for services run in partnership with other providers, such as Swindon Community Services.

Our Safeguarding Adults at Risk and Child Protection policy have sections and guidance on trafficking and our People Operations processes mandate recruitment checks to ensure pre-employment suitability and Disclosure and Barring compliance where appropriate.

The majority of our healthcare provision is through direct contact with clinical staff. Our People Operations processes and professional registration requirements provide the checks to ensure that our workforce is compliant. Areas of greater risk would include supply chains of certain products and equipment.

When procuring suppliers, the Trust procurement process requires evidence of measures taken in line with the prohibition of human trafficking and exploitation.

Training

All clinical staff receive safeguarding training appropriate to their role, which includes training about human trafficking and exploitation and complies with the Adult Safeguarding competency requirements as outlined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Our safeguarding team receive specialist training and act as a resource to the workforce on any human trafficking and exploitation concerns.

The effectiveness of approach

The Trust monitor each clinical area against the requirement to train staff in all aspects of safeguarding training appropriate to the clinical environment, and compliance is monitored through Divisional Boards.