Why Commissioners Want to See Preventative Safeguarding — Not Just Reporting
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Too many tenders focus only on safeguarding response: what staff do when something goes wrong. But what commissioners really want to see is your approach to preventing harm in the first place.
🔍 Prevention = Proactive Risk Awareness
Prevention doesn’t mean waiting for red flags. High-scoring responses show how you:
- Proactively identify early signs of abuse or neglect
- Support people to speak up before concerns escalate
- Act on patterns or low-level indicators, not just clear-cut incidents
Commissioners want evidence that you’re looking ahead — not reacting late.
🧠 Empower Staff to Prevent, Not Just React
Training should go beyond recognising abuse. It should help staff:
- Understand how to reduce vulnerability and power imbalances
- Feel confident raising concerns early, without fear of blame
- Use supervision to reflect on safeguarding risks and practice
Safeguarding culture is a key marker of quality — and a strong differentiator in bids.
💬 Reflect Preventative Practice in Your Evidence
When writing your tender response, ask:
- Do we talk about early intervention — or only reactive measures?
- Can we give examples of how preventative practice avoided harm?
- Have we shown how service design reduces safeguarding risks?
Answering these shows you understand safeguarding as part of day-to-day care — not just a crisis protocol.