AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/safeguarding

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the protection of children, and of adults with care needs, from abuse and neglect.

Updated 12 October 2026 (1 minute read)

Summary

  • Abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual or financial, and includes neglect.
  • Everyone who works in the NHS has a duty to act on a concern. They do not need proof.
  • Concerns go to the safeguarding lead and, where needed, to the local authority or the police.
  • The duty can outweigh confidentiality when someone is at risk of serious harm.

Interview questions

  • A child has bruises that do not fit the explanation given. What do you do?
  • An elderly patient seems frightened of the relative who cares for them. How would you approach it?
  • When can a safeguarding concern justify breaking confidentiality?

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Cases that turn on it

Lucy Letby and the Thirlwall Inquiry Autonomy Doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital warned managers about a nurse after a run of unexplained baby deaths. Managers were slow to call the police and told the doctors to apologise to her. The public inquiry into what went wrong reported in September 2026. Birthmarks mistaken for bruises Beneficence Most Asian and Black babies are born with blue grey birthmarks that can look like bruises. In 2024 a mother in Hampshire was held overnight by police after her son's were taken as a sign of abuse.

More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.