Safeguarding

Working with under-18s means that safeguarding is a key priority of STEP inTO OxMed and we strive to ensure all participating mentees feel safe and comfortable throughout all of our programmes. This is the responsibility of all committee and medical student mentors, together with the University of Oxford safeguarding officer (director.swss@admin.ox.ac.uk).

Towards our safeguarding goals, we have our own University approved ‘Code of practice’ and this is closely alligned to the University’s own safeguarding policies, to which we ultimately defer. Each programme is risk assessed and all participating mentors must have; an enhanced DBS certificate, read our Code of Practice, and agreed to our Student Participation guidelines. They are also required to complete the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Level 1 training module ahead of programme engagement.

In the event of any concerns during a programme, we recommend participants report the incident to the University’s safeguarding lead at director.swss@admin.ox.ac.uk.