Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children

at  NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board

A n e xc i t i n g o p po r t un i t y h a s a r i s e n wi t h i n t h e S a f e g u a r d i n g T ea m f o r a D e s i g n a t e d D o c t o r f o r S a f e g ua r d i n g C h il d r e n . W e a r e l o o k i n g f o r a n e n t h u s i a s t i c a n d m o t i v a t e d c a nd i d a t e t o j o i n u s w h o i s willi n g t o g o t h a t e x t r a m il e a n d t o b e p a r t o f a s u c c e ss f u l a n d e f f e c t i v e t e a m .
We are looking for someone who can bring their expertise and work as part of our system to enable health colleagues to deliver the highest standards of care in respect of child abuse and neglect.
We offer the successful candidate professional development through our safeguarding team, our regional network and our chief medical officer. We would welcome applications form individuals who are looking pursue avenues of research in relation to safeguarding children.
Y o u wil l b e w o r k i n g a l o n g s i d e o t h e r p r o f e ss i o n a l s i n c l ud i n g t h e de s i g n a t e d nu r s e s and Named GPs for safeguarding. Y o u wil l b e e x p e c t e d t o t a ke a s t r a t eg i c , p r o f e ss i o na l l e a d i n a l l a s p e c t s o f t h e h ea l t h s e r v i ce c o n t r i b u t i o n t o s a f e g u a r d i n g c h il d r e n across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. T h i s i s a s t a t u t o r y r o l e wi t h i n t h e Integrated Care Board i n a c c o r d a n ce wi t h t h e r o l e s a n d r e s p on s i b ili t i e s s e t ou t i n d e t a i l i n t h e i n t e r c o ll e g i a t e do c u m e n t - S a f e g ua r d i n g C h il d r e n a n d Y o u n g Pe op l e : R o l e s a n d C o m pe t e n c e s f o r H ea l t h C a r e S t a f f ( 20 19 ) .
A s t h e D e s i g na t e d D o c t o r y o u wil l ad v i s e o n q u e s t i on s o f p l a nn i n g a n d s t r a t e g y wi t h r e ga r d s t o s a f e g u a r d i n g c h il d r e n en s u r i n g p e r f o r m a n ce i n d i c a t o r s a r e i n p l a ce w h e r e c h il d p r o t e c t i o n i s c on c e r n ed .
The role of the designated doctor for safeguarding children is to take a strategic and professional lead for safeguarding children across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, with the Designated and named professionals.
The Designated doctor provides advice to organisations, safeguarding partnerships and across healthcare services on questions of planning, strategy and commissioning with regard to safeguarding children.
The post holder works as a clinical expert to the ICB, children’s social care, the health system, other local partners and the safeguarding children partnership in matters relating to safeguarding children.
The post holder will lead and support all activities necessary to ensure that organisations within healthcare services meet their responsibilities to safeguard and protect children and young people.
A key function of this role is to ensure a full contribution from medical and health services as part of an effective multi agency response when there are serious concerns about abuse, neglect or perplexing presentations.
Using their expertise, the Designated doctor for safeguarding children will provide clinical advice and supervision to paediatricians and other medical practitioners including the Named GPs about safeguarding children.
NHS STW was established on 1 July 2022 as part of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System (ICS) and is responsible for the strategic planning, commissioning, and monitoring of health and care services from a range of providers, to support our local population. These include GP and primary care services, hospital care, community healthcare and mental health services. We also have a duty to monitor these services to ensure they provide a high level of care and are value for money. We are clinically led and work closely with the 51 GP practices across the county.
In return, we provide a supportive environment in which to learn and develop, with the opportunity to further your skills and career within an exciting and evolving environment. Joining our inclusive and innovative team comes with a range of benefits including flexible & agile working arrangements, pension scheme and generous annual leave allowance. With our training schemes and support networks, you will be empowered to play a leading role in the future of healthcare, whatever your specialism or interest.
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin currently have an agile working policy, with a combination of working from home and office-based work. The role will require onsite working when required to meet the needs of the service.
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

• Th e 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 ad vice o n c h i l d p ro t e cti o n c a se fo c u s e d s u ppo rt a n d s u pe r vis i o n fo r medical hea l t h s t a ff a t a ll l e v e ls wit h in o r g an isa t i o n s a cross hea l t h c a re s e rv i c e s t h a t de l i v e r h e a lth s e rv i c e s
• M on it o r c o mp l ia n ce o f o rg an is a ti o n a l s a f e g ua rding s u pe rv i sion s t r at eg ies, p roviding ad vice a n d d i rection t o h ea lt h c a re s e rv i c e s in t h e d e v e l o p me n t o f t h e ir s a f e g ua rdi n g s u pe rv i sion s t ra t eg y
• To p rovi d e me n t o r i n g a s re qu i re d t o t h e n a m e d d o ct o rs

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

• M ee t t h e o r gan is a ti on s an d t h e p ro f e ssio n a l b od y’s re q u i r e m en ts f o r traini n g a t t e nd a n c e
• At te n d rele v an t re g i o n a l a n d n a ti o n a l c o n ti nu i n g p r o f e ssi o na l d e v e l o pm e n t a ctivities to main ta in skil l s. This incl u de s rec e iv in g s p e cific t raining t ha t relat e s t o s p e cialist a c t iv i ti e s.
• Rec e ive re g u lar s a f e g ua rdin g /c h i l d p rot e ct i o n s u p e rv i sio n (quarterly as a minimum) , p ee r r e v i e w a n d un d e rtake r e fl e ctive p r a ctice
• The D e si g na t e d D o c t o r w i l l ha ve a n a n nua l a pp raisal u n d e r ar r an ge me n ts in p lace w i th th e 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 Partnership

• Th e 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 necessar