At Medology, our vision extends beyond helping students gain admission to university. We aim to foster a supportive, vibrant community that creates an enjoyable experience through the process, and beyond. The safety and welfare of our students is our top priority. This safeguarding policy is designed to protect the children, young people, and adults we support, providing guidance for our team on child protection principles.
Our events, both online and in-person, primarily serve students aged 16-18 undertaking their A Levels. We ensure safe venues for in-person events and appropriate security measures for online events. This policy applies to all activities at all times. If events are held in association with schools or external organisations, we comply with and are also covered by their safeguarding procedures. This policy does not cover activities by other organisations at our event venues.
This policy applies to all individuals working on behalf of Medology, including team members, volunteers, and freelancers. Any failure to adhere to these principles will be taken seriously, escalated to the necessary authorities, and may result in removal from the organisation.
Our safeguarding policy is grounded in UK legislation concerning child protection, including:
We will continue to review and update this policy in line with the latest legislation and guidance.
Our team of medical and dental school admissions mentors consists of medical and dental students from universities across the UK. All are rigorously trained and qualified to deliver high-quality teaching and mentoring for the different facets of medical and dental school applications. All team members have undergone an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on entry to medical or dental school and are cleared to work with children, young people, and vulnerable individuals.
During the onboarding process, all team members must agree to act in accordance with our internal Code of Conduct and engage in our internal safeguarding briefings.
Any external individual who works with Medology will also be DBS checked or, if they are based outside the UK, cleared to an equivalent level. They will be made aware of our approach towards safeguarding.
Individual Responsibility
Each member of the Medology team is expected to adhere to our Code of Conduct and uphold the values and principles we stand for. In the unfortunate event that a team member engages in behaviour that violates these standards, Medology will take appropriate action to address the situation. However, it is important to understand that the organisation does not accept responsibility for individual transgressions. The responsibility for such actions lies solely with the individual involved.
Consequences of Misconduct
Our Stance
Medology does not condone or tolerate any form of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour. While we will act swiftly and decisively to address any such incidents, we emphasise that:
To mitigate risks and support a safe environment, Medology will:
As part of our vision to create a community for our students, we have WhatsApp group chats for students to communicate with each other, seek advice from the team, and support each other through the process. Each group chat will have Medology representatives trained in safeguarding to maintain professionalism and ensure that the chat remains on topic. While the purpose of our group chats is centred around academia and educational discourse, we do allow room for more general conversation as long as it is kept to an appropriate level because we appreciate the need for a healthy balance. If any individual in these chats breaches the standards of professionalism we expect, they will be removed without warning. By joining our chats, we assume that our students are aware of the potential risks and have the necessary parental consent to participate.
The standards we expect from students on these platforms are the same as expected from them as future doctors and dentists by the GMC and GDC. Please refer to the GMC and GDC guidelines for more detail.
We appreciate that these group chats allow individuals to establish private communication outside of them, and this comes with risks. We do not condone this and are unable to accept responsibility for anything that happens as a result of this, be it online or in-person. We will encourage students not to entertain any private messages they receive as a result of being part of a Medology WhatsApp group.
We also do not accept responsibility for any views and opinions that students express on these platforms. Additionally, views and opinions expressed by Medology representatives do not necessarily represent the entire organisation.
If students have any personal queries, concerns, or anything which would not be suitable to share on the group, we ask that they contact Medology via our official communication streams, such as Instagram, our website, or email. Please do not message individual members of the team on WhatsApp as we are unable to reply to private messages from students, unless explicitly authorised as part of a course such as The Interview Journey.
Our commitment to safeguarding means that we run periodic safeguarding training sessions for our team, which are mandatory to attend. We will ensure that each team member meets the highest standards.
Members of the Medology team:
This list is not exhaustive, but here are some examples of safeguarding concerns that members of the Medology team may look out for:
Team members are not expected to investigate or confirm whether any concerns are true, but to simply follow the procedures we have outlined if any suspicion arises.
If a safeguarding issue does come to light, or there is any suspicion, an incident log will be filed here and the case will be immediately referred to one of our Designated Safeguarding Officers and investigated promptly to ensure the safety of the individual involved.
We will keep a written record if any concern arises with safeguarding, including details of the person involved, the nature of the concern, decisions made, and why they were made. These records will be signed, dated, and sent to the Designated Safeguarding Lead, and will be confidentially stored in line with GDPR regulations.
Flowchart for Handling Concerns
We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of all safeguarding reports and records. All personal data is processed in accordance with GDPR regulations to ensure it is kept secure and only accessed by authorised personnel.
Additional Points
To ensure the effectiveness of our safeguarding policy, we will conduct regular reviews and updates. This will include evaluating the outcomes of safeguarding reports, feedback from team members, and any changes in legislation or best practices.
Review Schedule
We have four safeguarding officers who are responsible for the overall welfare of Medology students. They will either be physically present at every event, or available on stand-by should the need to report any safeguarding concerns to them arise.
Medology takes every reasonable step to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this safeguarding policy. However, this policy is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Medology disclaims any liability for any actions taken or not taken based on the information provided in this policy.
Indemnity Clause
All individuals engaged with Medology, including team members, volunteers, and freelancers, agree to indemnify and hold harmless Medology, its officers, directors, employees, and agents, from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses arising out of or in any way connected with their actions or omissions.
Parental Consent
For all students under 18, Medology assumes parental consent when engaging with any of our services or attending our events.
Confidentiality Agreement
All team members, volunteers, and freelancers will sign a confidentiality agreement, ensuring that they understand the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of all safeguarding-related information. Breaches of confidentiality will be taken seriously and may result in disciplinary action.
Regular Policy Review
This safeguarding policy will be reviewed at least annually, and more frequently if necessary, to ensure that it remains up-to-date with current legislation and best practices. All revisions will be approved by the senior management team and communicated to all stakeholders.
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This safeguarding policy will be continually updated over time. The last revision took place on Thursday, 11th July 2024.
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