Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children

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Job Summary

Designated Doctor is a clinical expert and strategic leader, taking a strategic, professional lead on all aspects of the health service contribution to safeguarding children across the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin area.

·       The post holder will provide support to all providers and linking particularly with Named Child Protection and Safeguarding Children health professionals, local authorities, Police, local safeguarding partnerships (LSPs) and NHS England.

·       This role will be working across the Integrated Care System (ICS) and closely with the ICB Safeguarding Team (including Children in Care Team, Special Educational Needs and Disability Team and Child Death Service Team) to provide expert advice and guidance and ensuring all services under STW ICS meet the statutory requirements.

·       The post holder will be expected to demonstrate (or develop to) the Level 5 competency levels of the Intercollegiate Competency Framework Safeguarding Children.

·       The Designated Doctor should:

Ø  Hold consultant status or senior post with equivalent professional training and experience within paediatric services

Ø  Have substantial clinical experience in the field of safeguarding / child protection and substantial experience of the legislation relating to children and young people including the court process

Ø  Be clinically active (or have held an active clinical position in the previous two years) in the field of safeguarding/child protection and, as part of their clinical commitments

 Key Working Relationships

·       The post holder will need to build and maintain constructive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to:

Ø  Internal ICB staff including managers, colleagues, and senior management as appropriate

Ø  ICS partners, including portfolio leads, Local Authorities and Provider and Place Collaboratives

Ø  Local Safeguarding Partnerships

Ø  Non-NHS organisations

Ø  Members of the public and service users as appropriate

Ø  External consultancy, as required.

 Key Duties & Responsibilities

·       The Designated Doctor will provide the safeguarding and medical expertise across the system on behalf of the ICB

·       Provide clinical advice, for example in complex cases or where there is dispute between practitioners

·       The Designated Doctor will provide supervision and professional development guidance to the network of Named Doctors within the system

·       Contribute to policy and statutory functions with a specific medical and safeguarding issue focus

·       Contributing an analytical approach to the working of the designated team

·       Work alongside  the  Looked  After  Children  and Child Death Designated  Doctor  to  ensure functions are met and not duplicated, providing overlap and cover when necessary

Operational Responsibility

·       Support and advise other professionals on the management of all forms of child maltreatment, including relevant legal frameworks and documentation.

·       Assess and evaluate evidence, write reports and present information to child protection conferences and related meetings where required.

·       Provide advice and signposting to other professionals about legal processes, key research and policy documents

·       Advise on safeguarding training needs and the delivery of training for all health staff within organisations across healthcare services

·       Play an active part in the planning and delivery of inter-agency training through local safeguarding partnerships

·       Work with other designated professionals to produce an overall review of the local healthcare services that identifies gaps in commissioning arrangements and information sharing between organisations and individuals

·       Provide advice to all specialist safeguarding/child protection professionals working within organisations delivering health services across the health economy on referrals/chronologies/writing individual management reviews/individual agency reviews/internal management reviews and within the framework of Working Together 2023

·       Provide advice on child protection case focused support and supervision for medical health staff at all levels within organisations across healthcare services that deliver health services

·       Monitor compliance of organisational safeguarding supervision strategies, providing advice and direction to healthcare services in the development of their safeguarding supervision strategy

·       To provide mentoring as required to the named doctors

Financial and Physical Resources Responsibility

·       To work with the budget holder for department/service and or project

·       To work with the ICB Commissioners to assist with the review of budgets for the service

Human Resources Responsibility

·       Meet the organisations and the professional body's requirements for training attendance

•   Attend relevant regional and national continuing professional development activities to maintain skills. This includes receiving specific training that relates to specialist activities.

•   Receive regular safeguarding/child protection supervision (quarterly as a minimum), peer review and undertake reflective practice

·       The Designated Doctor will have an annual appraisal under arrangements in place with the ICB

Information Management Responsibility

·       Responsible for the operation of one or more information systems

·       Manages, maintains, and develops directorate information system

Planning and Organisation Responsibility

·       Plan and organise broad range of complex activities; formulates, adjusts plans, or strategies/formulate long-term strategic plans, involving uncertainty, may impact across the whole organisation

·       Develops a range of plans/long term strategic plans for performance and service

·       Improvement in new areas across organisations

Policy and Service Development Responsibility

·       Work with other designated professionals to ensure that the health components of the procedures of the LSP are current.

·       Work with healthcare organisations across all healthcare services to ensure that appropriate policies, procedures, training, and audit are in place and that these are consistent with the policies of the LSP.

·       Assist and facilitate in the development of quality assurance systems across the health economy.

Research and Development Responsibility

·       Regularly undertake research and development activity

·       Undertakes complex audits/surveys related to programme

Freedom to Act

·       Works to general policies, has freedom to establish interpretation.

·       Interprets national guidelines for organisation

Analytical and Judgemental Responsibility

·       Provide advice to all organisations across the health community on the implementation of an effective system of safeguarding/child protection audit, training, and supervision.

·       Provide advice on clinical governance and standards to named professionals

·       Provide advice to the Senior Leadership Team about their responsibilities to ensure that performance indicators in relation to safeguarding/child protection are met

·       Ability to recognise and escalate issues or challenges raised internally and externally that may impact on safeguarding children and families and/or the reputation of the ICB

Communication Responsibility

·       Work as part of the STW Safeguarding team

·       Work with other designated professionals to agree team responsibilities

·       Liaise with, advise, and support named professionals across all healthcare services

·       Liaise with the NHS England regional safeguarding lead

The post holder will have good working relationships including the following professionals:

Ø  ICB Safeguarding Team

Ø  Members of the ICB Nursing and Quality Directorate

Ø  Contract Managers and Commissioners

Ø  Provider Safeguarding Teams / Named Children in Care Nurses and Doctors.

Ø  Designated colleagues across the region

Ø  Police

Ø  Key Managers in other health, social care and voluntary service agencies

Ø  NHSE Regional and National Safeguarding Teams

Ø  Local Safeguarding Partnerships

Ø  Local Community Safety Partnerships