Safeguarding
The Care Act 2014 states that vulnerable people must be adequately safeguarded from abuse and self-neglect, therefore safeguarding concerns must be actively ruled out for every homeless person attending the ED (18). A safeguarding issue may arise where there is a patient who clearly cannot adequately take care of themselves, or a patient is being abused by another person. This must be raised with the safeguarding lead (18) and required referrals made to social care.