Senior Safeguarding Children Practitioner
Job overview
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.
Please see below for a detailed job description of the role.
Main duties of the job
This is an exciting opportunity to join the UHS Safeguarding Team as a Senior Safeguarding Children Practitioner, developing your skills and knowledge within a friendly and committed team working within a large acute hospital.
This role will encompass a wide range of Safeguarding Children practices and will reach from supporting our Paediatric Liaison service to our Paediatric Intensive Care Unit in their day-to-day roles, ensuring that children are safeguarded effectively throughout their journey with us.
Working for our organisation
University Hospital Southampton is one of England's largest acute teaching Trusts, offering a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support your career aspirations.
Located on the south coast with an international airport and direct rail links to London, Southampton offers an ideal setting to live and work, with the New Forest, South Downs and Jurassic Coast.
We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalizing your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.
At UHS we’re committed to providing a flexible working environment where possible. Whether you are balancing family, study, or your wellbeing with your career, we want to support you so you can help our patients.
At UHS, we proudly champion individuality, recognizing that outstanding care is only possible with a diverse, inclusive team. We’re committed to creating an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory environment where everyone feels valued, safe, and empowered to make a meaningful impact in our communities.We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to join us in building a healthcare community where everyone can belong, thrive, and contribute.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Responsibilities- To support the safeguarding work of frontline nursing staff and other staff in appropriate cases and exercise good leadership skills.
- Responsible for providing, receiving and disseminating highly complex, sensitive and confidential information appropriately.
- To provide specialist advice and support to nurses, doctors, other health professionals and other staff within the Trust involved in actual or suspected cases of safeguarding maltreatment.
- Co-ordinate the Trust’s multi-disciplinary response in safeguarding cases, ensuring that decisions and interventions are appropriate and timely, and are made by professionals with a sufficient level of education, experience and competence.
- To provide one-to-one or group safeguarding supervision to all staff Trust-wide involved in safeguarding cases on a case-by-case basis.
- To participate in the development and delivery of high-quality and research-based safeguarding training across the Trust to a wide variety of disciplines.
- Relevant experience of working with safeguarding cases in a variety of settings involving adults or children’s services.
- Knowledge of safeguarding legislation, current issues, and inquiry reports for adults and children.
- Experience in attending safeguarding strategies case conferences/participating in protection plans
- Ability to have difficult conversations whilst maintaining a positive, professional manner.
- Able to manage own workload autonomously.
- Synthesise information quickly and able to communicate the information.
Person specification
Qualifications / training required
Essential criteria- Registered Healthcare Professional on relevant part of NMC / HCPC register with extensive experience
- Masters-level modules in relevant subject or willingness to undertake.
- Evidence of CPD to master’s level or equivalent
- Specialist training in area of practice.
- Master’s degree completed.
- Teaching qualification.
- Leadership training.
- IT training.
Previous or relevant experience necessary
Essential criteria- Relevant experience of working with safeguarding cases in a variety of settings involving adults or children’s services
- Experience of inter-agency partnership working
- Knowledge of safeguarding legislation, current issues, and inquiry reports for adults and children
- Specialist clinical skills and experience
- Change management
- Leadership, innovation
- Evidenced based care philosophy
- Proven management experience
- Experience of attending safeguarding strategies case conferences/participating in protection plans
- Policy development and implementation.
Values and behaviours
Essential criteria- Patients First
- Always Improving
- Working Together
Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications. We will not accept any applications or queries via agencies, under any circumstances.
For more information about our Trust
https://careers.uhs.nhs.uk
Getting to work - our travel promise
Getting to work should be as easy as possible and that’s why we have introduced the UHS travel promise – a commitment from the Trust that we will provide reasonable travel options for every member of staff. Every member of staff can apply for a permit to use our park & ride facility.Eligibility for on-site parking is dependent on the nature and requirement of the role. All staff can also access a range of discounted benefits relating to travel including reduced price bus tickets, purchase of salary sacrifice bikes and ultra-low emission cars.
Our commitment to equality
Equality remains at the centre of our policymaking, service delivery, and employment practice, giving all employees equal opportunity to develop, apply for promotions, and have working arrangements that enable them to achieve a manageable work-life balance.
UHS actively promotes a work environment free from harassment and discrimination and provides training for managers and staff to ensure this happens. We also closely monitor recruitment activity, training, development, and employment practices to ensure equality of practice with regard to race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status and age.
How and why we use your information
The Trust is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided on this form for the prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.
The European General Data Protection Regulations enhances individuals’ rights and safeguards all of their data in place under the DPA.
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