Safeguarding Children Senior Practitioner - Croydon CAMHS

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South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

The post holder will work as a senior safeguarding practitioner within the Trust's centralised safeguarding team and support delivery of the Trust's Integrated Safeguarding Strategy.
The post holder will work under the guidance of the CAMHS Named Professional for Safeguarding.
The post holder will work as a team to promote exemplar safeguarding practice that incorporates 'Think Family' principles.
The post holder will provide safeguarding supervision as needed and provide safeguarding training to staff in line with national and local guidelines and policy.

You will share responsibility with other safeguarding senior practitioners for ensuring that CAMHS staff within the teams achieve positive clinical outcomes for children, young people and their families and that these are evidenced by performance indicators such as activity data, targets and quality measures.
The post holder will work with the centralised safeguarding team to ensure that lessons learnt from audit and serious case reviews/case management reviews/significant case reviews are disseminated to staff and embedded to improve clinical practice.

Main duties of the job

1. Key Responsibilities:
   1.1 To support the Trust's Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Lead for CAMHS in the delivery of safeguarding children's objectives within a Think Family approach.
   1.2 Provide consultation, advice, and support to clinical and non-clinical staff on safeguarding children processes and safeguarding practice.
   1.3 With other safeguarding leads, develop policies for new and existing services to assure safeguarding children is embedded in operational policies and practice.
   1.4 Working in collaboration with the safeguarding leads and audit team to provide assurance related to safeguarding practice
   1.5 Support the safeguarding children training requirements, including development and delivery of safeguarding training.
   1.6 Support Safeguarding Practice Reviews, investigations and report writing. Share responsibility for the formulation and implementation of action plans and recommendations, alongside managers, within the borough and across the Trust.
   1.7 To attend as directed and requested multi-agency safeguarding meetings including MARAC, MAPPA, MASH, and others, to assist and support in the development of inter-agency learning and service development.

Working for our organisation

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close-knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated therefore have a comprehensive benefits package on offer. Some of our amazing benefits are highlighted here:-Generous pay, pensions and annual leave.-Work life balance and supportive of a range of flexible working options-Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes.-Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars- Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites- NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website. Other benefits include:

o Counselling services.

o Wellbeing events.

o Long service awards

.o Cycle to work scheme.

o Season ticket loan.o Staff restaurants.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

2. Safeguarding practice and clinical governance
2.1 Demonstrate a sound working knowledge and understanding of the Children Act, 2004, and the statutory responsibilities to safeguard/ protect children and young people as set out in Section 11 of the Act and Working Together 2018 guidance.
2.2 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the possible signs of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse or neglect using child and Think family-focused approach. This includes emerging contemporary safeguarding issues such as missing children, child sexual exploitation, harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage and radicalisation, domestic abuse, etc..
2.3 Advise staff on what constitutes child abuse including the impact of carer/-parental behaviour on children and young people.
2.4 Contribute to and make considered judgements about how to act to safeguard/protect a child or young person.
2.5 Contribute to/formulate and communicate effective protection plans for children and young people who have been abused.
2.6 Contribute to multi-agency assessments by gathering and sharing information.
2.7 Undertake reviews of safeguarding/child protection practice as appropriate through audit, case discussion, peer review, and supervision
2.8 Apply lessons learnt from audit and serious case reviews/case management reviews/significant case reviews to improve clinical practice.
2.9 Advise others on appropriate information sharing in line with the Data Protection Act.
2.10 Contribute to child safeguarding practice reviews/case management reviews and child death review processes.
2.11 Prepare reports and participate in child safeguarding meetings such as case conferences, strategy meetings, rapid response meetings and professional meetings when required. Share actions from these meetings with more senior named Safeguarding Lead for CAMHS and the Trust's Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children.
2.12 The post holder will actively contribute to the governance processes within the safeguarding service
3. Supervision and Training
3.1 To receive line-management, supervision, development and support from a more senior Safeguarding Lead
3.2 Deliver and receive safeguarding supervision and be able to recognise the potential personal impact of safeguarding/ child protection work on colleagues and staff.
3.3 Provide one to one and group safeguarding children supervision to a defined group of staff.
3.4 To keep records from supervision.
3.5 Be skilled in the use of Microsoft Office and able to produce reports as required.

3.6 Support practitioners to identify and refer vulnerable children and young people at risk or suffering from harm to the appropriate agencies
3.7 Provide advice and support for all staff working with complex families in complex situations involving the death or serious injury of a child.
3.8 Ensure evidence-based advice is provided to all staff requesting or requiring professional support with decision making/complex issues.
3.9 When there are unresolved safeguarding children concerns escalate them in a timely manner.
3.10 Deliver statutory and mandatory safeguarding training to SLAM staff and multi-agency training as required.
3.11 Contribute to the evaluation of training and adapt provision according to feedback from participants
4. Service Development and Research
4.1 Contributes on the implementation of the Safeguarding Children Strategy and Business/work Plan.
4.2 Contribute to the development of evidence based standards, policies and guidelines .
4.3 Lead on safeguarding children audits as requested
4.4 Keep up to date with evidence informed practice and use this knowledge to support the organisation and partner agencies.
4.5 To lead on specific service development and improvement workstreams as delegated by the Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children.

5. Performance and Resource Management
5.1 Work with the Named Safeguarding Professionals and other senior colleagues within the safeguarding team to ensure that key performance indicator data is recorded on the correct electronic patient records and incident reporting systems.
5.2 Maintain oversight of local safeguarding concerns raised via incident reporting systems such as Datix, and provide appropriate advice, consultation, supervision and action.
5.3 Contribute to the analysis of data collected and provision of reports as required by safeguarding groups and committees.
5.4 Identify performance management issues in relation to practice, and report issues to the appropriate line manager of relevant staff group.
5.5 Responsible for the safe use of own equipment and physical resources needed for the role
5.6 Contribute to the team's budget and cost improvement plans by ensuring safe and economic use of resources.
6. Clinical Leadership
6.1 As agreed within personal development plan, to have opportunities to deputise for Safeguarding leads as when required.
6.2 The post holder will take the lead on appropriate areas of the safeguarding remit to progress the safeguarding agenda across the Trust.
6.3 Develop and maintain a learning culture within the service that challenges practice, behaviour and beliefs in ways that facilitate change through effective learning and in improve working relationships and services.
6.4 Facilitate the personal and professional development of staff. This involves identifying training and development needs, providing suitable development opportunities, and evaluating development actions in accordance with the Trust's appraisal and training procedures.

6.5 To input into the development of, and support the implementation of the Safeguarding Children policies and promote best practice and effective working across the Trust
6.6 Guide, coach and advise staff on safeguarding issues as appropriate.
6.7 To lead on specific work streams as delegated by the Named Nurse for example; training, policy reviews, systems and process improvements, quality improvement projects, etc.
6.8 To attend quality improvement task and finish groups and workstreams as appropriate.
7. Professional
7.1 Demonstrate clinical expertise through own personal development. Maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping up to date with research evidence, audit outcomes, national guidelines, and incorporating them into their own practice. Thus, ensuring that the skills and expertise required for the post are maintained and enhanced.
7.2 Act as a role model to all staff.
7.3 Adhere to local and professionally prescribed codes of ethical conduct and practice (e.g., confidentiality).
7.4 Maintain a professional portfolio which demonstrates development in reflective practice.
7.5 Have arrangements in place for individual supervision as per Trust policy.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Registered Nurse, Social Worker, or other registered health or social care professional
• Degree related to professional role or extensive relevant experience and willingness to undertake further education
• Evidence of further training in safeguarding children

Desirable criteria

• Completed an accredited Supervisors Skills course or willing to do so

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience in using child/adult safeguarding procedures.
• Attending multi agency protection strategy meetings and formulation of case reports, reviews, and professional investigations.
• Experience and confidence in the delivery of training

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with multiple stakeholders Safeguarding lead/responsibility undertaking investigations of clinical practice

Knowledge / Skills

Essential criteria

• Able to demonstrate a broad understanding of vulnerable groups including children, adults, domestic abuse, PREVENT protocols and standards Up to date awareness of National safeguarding policies and legislation
• Be able to communicate with peers as well as senior practitioners and managers both Trust-wide and with external agencies and services, in a professional and knowledgeable manner.
• Sound knowledge of IT systems (Outlook, Word, MS Teams Excel, Power Point) and performance reporting requirements for the services

Desirable criteria

• Ability to use own safeguarding knowledge, without needing to defer to managers

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Safeguarding Children Senior Practitioner - Croydon CAMHS (PDF, 235.9KB)
• SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)