1. Immediate danger and urgent help
Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger, a crime is in progress or urgent police or medical help is needed. For a non-emergency police matter, call 101.
Do not wait for a safeguarding lead, a reply from DiRich or a complaints response before seeking help. DiRich is not an emergency service and does not offer a 24/7 safeguarding response.
2. Adult-only support and recognising concerns
DiRich is a small team of two people and offers non-regulated companionship and community support for adults aged 18+ in Burton upon Trent and surrounding areas. Personal care, physical feeding or eating assistance, clinical services and medication assistance, including handling, administration or scheduled prompting, are excluded. Support requires individual assessment, an agreed plan, signed documentation and DiRich confirmation; an enquiry is not a booking.
Adult safeguarding concerns include abuse, neglect and exploitation. Examples include physical or sexual harm, emotional abuse, coercive control, financial abuse, discriminatory or organisational abuse, domestic abuse, modern slavery, neglect and self-neglect. Unexplained injuries, distress, changes in behaviour, missing money or unsafe living conditions can be warning signs; they are not proof of abuse.
An adult safeguarding referral may be warranted where an adult has care and support needs, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and because of those needs is unable to protect themselves. The local authority determines its safeguarding duties. You do not need proof to raise a concern or ask for advice.
3. Safeguarding leads and contacting DiRich
DiRich has a Designated Adult Safeguarding Lead and a Deputy Adult Safeguarding Lead. Contact either for a non-emergency concern; neither role provides an emergency or guaranteed out-of-hours response.
For non-emergency contact with DiRich, telephone 01283 351888 or email info@dirichsupport.com. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am–3:00pm. These are general business contacts, not a dedicated emergency or out-of-hours safeguarding service.
Report concerns promptly to either safeguarding lead as appropriate. Urgent safety action and direct referrals to the police or relevant local-authority adult safeguarding service must never wait for either of them, especially if either is unavailable, implicated or conflicted, or both are unavailable. The same applies to an inadequate DiRich response. Internal approval is not required before reporting to authorities.
4. Listening and recording a concern
Listen calmly, take the person seriously and let them use their own words. Ask only what is necessary to clarify safety; avoid leading questions, investigation or confronting an alleged source of harm. Explain that you cannot promise secrecy and that appropriate help may be needed.
Make a prompt, proportionate factual record of the date, time, circumstances, observations, the person’s words, their wishes, and actions or referrals. Distinguish facts from opinions and preserve relevant evidence without putting anyone at risk.
Handle records securely and share them only where necessary for a lawful purpose. Avoid circulating sensitive details unnecessarily; contact the appropriate authority for advice where needed.
5. Wishes, capacity and consent
Listen to the adult’s wishes and desired outcomes, support them to participate and seek their agreement to a referral or information-sharing where appropriate. Do not assume lack of capacity because of age, disability, diagnosis or an unwise decision.
Capacity relates to a particular decision at the time it is needed. Where there is reason to doubt capacity, seek appropriate professional advice and follow the Mental Capacity Act 2005 where applicable, including support to decide, best interests where capacity is lacking, and the least restrictive approach.
A capacitous adult’s refusal must be considered, but does not automatically prevent every lawful safeguarding disclosure. Immediate danger, risk to others, coercion, serious crime or a legal duty may require action without consent. Seek appropriate authority advice and record the reasons; do not treat these examples as blanket permission to share.
6. Confidentiality and lawful information-sharing
Safeguarding information should be treated sensitively, but absolute confidentiality cannot be promised. Share only relevant, necessary and proportionate information with appropriate recipients, such as the local authority or police, when lawful and warranted; families or other third parties are not automatically entitled to it.
Explain proposed sharing to the adult where safe and appropriate. Record what was shared, with whom and why. Agreement to support or referral is not automatically data-protection consent. Personal information requires an applicable lawful basis; health or other special-category information also requires an applicable Article 9 condition and any additional legal safeguards.
7. Staffordshire reporting routes
For an adult safeguarding concern in Staffordshire, the County Council lists its Adult Safeguarding Referral Line: 0345 604 2719. For an urgent or high-risk concern outside council office hours, it lists the Emergency Duty Team: 0345 604 2886. Immediate danger still requires 999.
These numbers were checked against official Staffordshire County Council information on 13 October 2026; they have not been test-called. They are council contacts, not DiRich response promises. Use the official links below to check current availability and reporting guidance; precise opening hours are not reproduced here and should be rechecked before relying on them.
Where a referral is warranted, contact the relevant authority promptly with factual information and the adult’s wishes where known. Do not assume someone else has reported it. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have separate council reporting routes; for concerns elsewhere, use the relevant local authority. Do not assume a care-provider-only online referral form is available or appropriate for DiRich.
8. Incidental child concerns
A child is anyone under 18. DiRich does not provide services to children. A concern about a child may nevertheless arise incidentally and must not be ignored.
For such concerns, contact the relevant local-authority child safeguarding service directly, or 999 in immediate danger. Adult safeguarding contacts are not a substitute for the appropriate child route; no unverified local child-contact number is supplied.
9. Follow-up and further help
If a concern remains unaddressed or risk increases, contact the relevant safeguarding authority or police again as appropriate. A complaints process must not delay safeguarding action. Raising a concern does not remove statutory rights.
DiRich’s internal contact routes do not replace the police, emergency services or local-authority safeguarding services. For guidance and current reporting information use the official links below.