Responding to disclosures and immediate safety concerns

A disclosure may be direct, hesitant or hidden inside another request. Your first response should be calm, respectful and focused on the person’s immediate safety.

When someone tells you something worrying

Adults may test whether it is safe to speak before giving more information. They might begin with a brief remark, ask for secrecy, withdraw what they said or describe a safeguarding concern as a routine appointment issue.

A calm, steady response helps the person stay engaged. Shock, disbelief, pressing for details or promising to keep it secret can reduce safety.

Helpful first steps

• Listen without shock, blame or disbelief.
• Acknowledge the concern: for example, "I'm glad you told us" or "I need to pass this to the right person."
• Do not promise secrecy: explain that some information may need to be shared to keep people safe.
• Ask only enough to understand immediate danger and safe contact.
• Escalate promptly through the local safeguarding, clinical or emergency route.

Immediate safety

If an adult says they are being threatened, assaulted, trapped, denied urgent care, sexually harmed, seriously neglected or unable to stay safe, do not leave the matter in routine workflow. Use the local urgent route.

If another person is present, avoid confronting them in a way that might increase danger. If safe privacy is not possible, record what happened and seek immediate safeguarding or clinical support.

If an adult may be in immediate danger, urgent safety action comes before routine appointment handling.

Immediate danger