Children in Care Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner

Overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the hospital safeguarding team to support the delivery of the adult and children safeguarding agenda. The post holder will work within the safeguarding team to assist in providing leadership, supervision, training and expert advice in the management of safeguarding children and adults.

We are looking for someone who is very experienced in the field of Safeguarding and Children in Care and who is forward thinking and dynamic. You must be passionate about safeguarding and advocating for Children in Care wherever they are within the acute hospital or community setting. The post holder will work within the Safeguarding team providing an effective and evidence based advice and consultation service to Trust staff who raise safeguarding concerns.

The post will involve multi‑agency liaison to safeguard children and will require attendance at strategy discussions related to children. The post will involve the development and delivery of teaching packages. The post holder will be expected to offer safeguarding supervision across the trust. The post holder would be expected to be familiar with the escalation policy and feel confident with professional challenge.

The post holder will advise staff about Children in Care and their needs and will advocate for care experienced young people who are going through transition to adult services. The post holder will liaise with the Designated Nurse for Children in Care and participate in any projects relating to Children in Care.

We operate from three main hospitals – Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal – as well as a number of community healthcare premises including Millom Hospital and GP Practice, Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, and Ulverston Community Health Centre.

FGH and the RLI have a range of General Hospital services, including full Emergency Departments, Critical/Coronary Care units and various Consultant‑led services. WGH provides a range of General Hospital services, together with an Urgent Treatment Centre, that can help with a range of non‑life threatening conditions such as broken bones and minor illnesses. All three main hospitals provide a range of planned care including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery.

In addition, a range of local outreach services and diagnostics are provided from community facilities across Morecambe Bay.

• Provide an effective and evidence based advice and consultation service to Trust staff who raise safeguarding concerns.
• Lead the Children in Care workstream across the Trust and advocate for patients who are in care or care experienced.
• Introduce awareness across the trust of the Language That Cares document, changing the way that professionals talk about Children in Care.
• Raise awareness of Children in Care within the trust.
• Provide visible, accessible clinical leadership in all areas of the Trust where patients are in care or care experienced.
• Participate in any multi‑disciplinary meetings where a Child in Care is a patient.
• Provide Trustwide advice and consultation whenever and however safeguarding concerns are raised, whether or not the concern is eventually substantiated as a safeguarding concern.
• Coordinate with other safeguarding specialists to ensure cover is provided in the safeguarding team.
• Produce chronologies for Rapid Reviews and Local Safeguarding Practice Reviews and deputise for the Named Nurse in those meetings if required.
• Understand and contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, protocols, guidelines relevant to Safeguarding Children with a focus on Children in Care.

The Trust promotes flexible working opportunities whereever possible to enable staff to balance their work and home life. We are committed to Equal Opportunities and aim to be Effortlessly Inclusive. The Trust operates a No Smoking Policy.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our Person Specification will be shortlisted for Interview. We reserve…