Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide professional leadership, consultancy, advice, risk assessment and expert child protection practice, to support practitioners on actions to be taken in order to safeguard the child. 
• To ensure that staff support and advice is available and that a coordinated and consistent cover for child protection is provided.
• Exercise a high degree of autonomy to make critical decisions and judgements and deliver advanced clinical skills to the case management of children and young people with complex safeguarding needs.
• Contribute to the planning and development of child protection systems and arrangements within the Trust.
• Influence and contribute to the development of Policies and Procedures in line with national guidance and the Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP). This will include writing local guidance.
• To develop strategies for ensuring accurate and informative clinical records are maintained, in line with legislative policies, standards and procedures.
• Establish and improve professional standards of care in the identification and management of safeguarding vulnerable children across all clinical and non-clinical specialities.
• To identify vulnerable children, young people and families early and provide effective programmes of support and care that protects and promotes their health and wellbeing.
• Contribute to child protection case conferences and strategy meetings in order to plan effectively to ensure optimum outcomes for vulnerable children.
• Promote good practice and effective communication within and between Community colleagues, Statutory and Voluntary organisations, on all matters relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
• Participate and contribute to the health sub groups of the LSCPs.
• Deputise for the Head of Nursing Safeguarding Children / Lead Nurse Safeguarding Children where necessary.
• Analyse and respond to serious and untoward incidents, including Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews of child death and serious injuries cases.
• Operationally line manage the Safeguarding Nurse specialists. Advice on the specific needs of the safeguarding team and contribute to workforce plans.
• To identify the training needs of staff working with children within the Trust and prepare, a training programme to address these. Actively participate in the provision of the in-house child protection training programmes.
• Disseminate recent national legislation and guidance on safeguarding matters to community staff.
• Ensure all health visitors and school nurses receive child protection / safeguarding orientation as part of their induction programme.
• In conjunction with wider team members, maintain the quality of the Safeguarding Children service for the Trust, via the different elements of Clinical Governance. Identify areas of risk in practice and recommend changes to minimise risk.
• Following the death or serious harm to a child to review all circumstances surrounding the incident and make recommendations where changes in policy and practice are indicated to optimise safe practice.
• Ensure systems are in place for the collection and collation of child protection information and statistics to be presented as a quarterly report to the Trust Vulnerable Person Assurance Board. To be responsible for the collation of information in relation to child protection in the community.
• Identify areas and undertake research as appropriate in partnership with Trust colleagues. Disseminate to the Trust any research undertaken and its outcome.
• Monitor and audit the effectiveness of supervision, procedures and child protection practices.
• To oversee provision of and contribute to safeguarding supervision to health visitors and school nurses in accordance with Trust policy.

Please see attached job description for full details