Modern slavery statement
Annual Statement 2026/27
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust offers the following statement regarding its efforts to prevent slavery and human trafficking in its supply chain.
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires all organisations to set out the steps the organisation has taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains and in any part of its own business or supply chain.
The Organisation
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust provides secondary care, community and older persons’ mental health services to a local population of approximately 200,000. Wider populations are served for specialist screening services, gynaecology-oncology services and some breast services, including South of Tyne, Northumberland, Humberside, Cumbria and Lancashire.
Our annual turnover is around £348m and we have a workforce of around 4,800 people.
Our Commitment
The Trust considers the potential social impact and effect of its supply chain prior to the commencement of a procurement. It is committed to ensuring its suppliers adhere to the highest standards of ethics and undertakes due diligence when considering new suppliers as well as regularly reviewing existing suppliers.
The Trust recognises that it has a responsibility to take a robust approach preventing and addressing any concerns to slavery and human trafficking.
The organisation is committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in its corporate activities and to ensuring that its supply chains are free from slavery and human trafficking. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealing and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business of our supply chain.
Training
Advice and training regarding modern slavery and human trafficking is available to staff through our safeguarding children and adults training programmes, our safeguarding policies and procedures and our safeguarding lead.
Although specific training has not been undertaken for staff, Trust staff undertake safeguarding training as part of core training which references Modern Day Slavery and informs staff how to raise concerns regarding any vulnerable adult.
Members of the Procurement senior team are Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) qualified and abide by the CIPS code of professional conduct.
The Trust’s Policy Framework
The Trust has a number of policies in place which support this agenda including:
- Recruitment and Selection policies
- Safeguarding policies
- Raising Concerns – Freedom to Speak Up
- Managing Conflicts of Interest
Our Due Diligence
As part of our efforts to monitor and reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring within our supply chain we have taken the following steps:
- Gathered information from the business concerning existing suppliers
- Identified tier 1 suppliers to our business
- Sought confirmation from those suppliers of their own compliance with the Modern Slavery Act (where appropriate) and their commitment to ethical business practices and transparency in their own supply chains.
These steps have been taken to enable us to:
- Establish and assess areas of potential risk in our business and supply chains
- Monitor potential risk areas in our business and supply chains
- Train our employees on what to look for (the signs of modern slavery)
- Reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains
- Provide adequate protection for whistle blowers.
As a result, we undertake a process of due diligence to provide assurance to all relevant interested parties (ie our staff and our customers) that we work alongside reputable organisations.
We also confirm the identities of all new employees and their right to work in the United Kingdom in line with NHS employment check standards within our recruitment and selection practices and pay all our employees above the National Living Wage.
Our core values give staff a platform for our employees to raise concerns about poor working practices or behaviours not in line with those expected.
Risk and Compliance
The Trust has taken steps to evaluate the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of modern slavery occurring within our supply chain, measured against legislative and regulatory requirements.
Signed: by Dr Sean Fenwick, Acting Chief Executive
Anti-bribery statement
Anti-bribery statementSafe staffing levels
As well as publishing open and honest care data, we are also committed to providing information on the NHS Safer Staffing Programme.
This programme allows patients and the public to see how hospitals are performing in relation to their staffing levels in an easy and accessible way.
Monthly detailed Trust board reports on our hospital staffing levels demonstrate we have robust systems in place for safe staffing.
Also available is data presented by ward on the planned number and the actual number of staffing hours; in addition to the average percentage of planned staffing levels, we have achieved each month.
Safe planned staffing levels are defined at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead as the number of staff we would want to have on every ward to ensure high quality and safe care for our patients; it is not the minimum levels of staff required for every ward.
This information is available for registered nurses, midwives and care staff for both day duty and night duty.
These important staffing figures are also reported to and published by NHS England.
Our safer staffing reports are published online under our resources section.