Safeguarding and urgent concerns

Immediate danger

If someone is in immediate danger, has a serious injury or may have overdosed, use the appropriate local emergency service. Do not wait for a website reply or a routine admissions conversation. Our urgent-help page links to crisis and emergency resources without requiring an enquiry.

Concerns about a young person’s safety

For concerns about abuse, exploitation, neglect or an unsafe environment, contact the appropriate local safeguarding, child-protection, healthcare or emergency service. Where a school or treatment service is involved, use its designated safeguarding and complaints routes and relevant independent authorities where necessary.

This website cannot investigate a report, determine whether someone is safe or take responsibility for a clinical or safeguarding case. Do not send identifying information about a young person through the website.

Age-appropriate treatment

A provider serving adults should not be assumed suitable for a 16- or 17-year-old. Ask about the exact service’s age criteria, professional expertise, safeguarding arrangements, education and consent before considering admission.

The adolescent pathway is separate from adult treatment information. The provider-selection guide includes questions about family contact, complaints, restrictive practices and clinical limits.

Participation, dignity and privacy

A young person’s own account should be heard in care decisions. Do not treat humiliation, deception or punishment as a substitute for qualified assessment and respectful treatment. Ask services to explain how concerns can be raised, including concerns involving staff.

Consent and confidentiality vary by jurisdiction and circumstances. Ask qualified local professionals to explain the actual rules rather than relying on a universal age-based assumption from a website.

Limits of the content

The articles are educational and have not been independently clinically reviewed. They do not provide an individual diagnosis, risk assessment or treatment plan. Source links support further reading but do not certify a provider’s current safety or suitability.

No on-site clinical enquiry or health-record submission service is active. The contact and help page explains how to identify an appropriate route for your question.