Safeguarding Children Lead

Job overview

Are you a Degree-qualified SCPHN with knowledge, skills and experience within the safeguarding arena?

Do you want to develop further skills and experience within safeguarding, supporting practitioners, families and the wider safeguarding system?

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is looking for an enthusiastic, motivated, Safeguarding Lead who would like an opportunity to be a part of a dynamic, friendly and supportive Safeguarding team.

Would you like to be part of a strong team of safeguarding leads who are embedded within the wider diverse leadership team within the Healthy Child Programme?

We are looking for a practitioner who:

• has knowledge and experience of working with children and families within the safeguarding arena and can work autonomously
• be competent in assessing suspected abuse and neglect
• can work as part of a wider safeguarding system to improve outcomes for children·

If successful, you will work within the Peterborough locality with the expectation of supporting the wider safeguarding team when required. You will be part of a friendly, passionate safeguarding team who are always looking for ways to improve the outcomes for children.

If you would like to be part of a team that plays a crucial role in supporting health practitioners across multiple disciplines within their practice to ensure they can safeguard children and young people, this is the role for you.

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• To lead on development of defined areas of safeguarding practice as determined by the Named Nurse and Head of Safeguarding.
• To provide support and leadership within and across East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (EEC) on all matters relating to safeguarding children and identifying when adults are at risk.
• To embed the Think Family approach and to liaise with the expertise of the adult safeguarding team when working with adults at risk within the family environment.
• A working knowledge of the Working Together 2026 and knowledge and experience of working with vulnerable families and multi-agencies would be an expectation of a practitioner applying for this role.

This role is based in the Peterborough area. However, there is an expectation of travel across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Should we receive a high no. of applications, we reserve the right to close this vacancy at any point after 29.10.26

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Summary

• To lead on development of defined areas of safeguarding practice as determined by the Named Nurse and Head of Safeguarding.
• To provide support and leadership within and across East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (EEC) on all matters relating to safeguarding children and identifying when adults are at risk.
• To embed the Think Family approach and to liaise with the expertise of the adult safeguarding team when working with adults at risk within the family environment.
• To contribute to the design and implementation of the Think Family approach, promoting evidence-based practice in safeguarding within East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust.
• To support the robust and effective clinical governance of safeguarding children and adults at risk processes in place.
• To provide safeguarding advice, support and safeguarding supervision to frontline staff working with children, young people and their families and to signpost to the adult safeguarding team when adults at risk have been identified.
• To support the safeguarding team in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), ensuring effective, timely communication and information sharing both internally and externally which supports multidisciplinary/interagency working.
• To be an integral part of the Locality leadership team, working alongside other Band 7 colleagues in the office environment under the leadership of the Named Nurse’s to promote a high quality, efficient and effective service
• To participate in the design, implementation and delivery of the Trust’s safeguarding training strategy and the safeguarding audit programme.
• To participate and represent the safeguarding team on identified multi-agency sub-groups and meetings and work with partner agencies to facilitate the learning from multi-agency review.
• To support and provide safeguarding advice within the single point of access.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• To work with Trust staff to promote best practice, identify risk factors and initiate or escalate appropriate action to safeguard people or suffering from abuse and neglect.
• To contribute to collaborative interagency working and quality assurance frameworks for safeguarding children
• To provide robust and reflective safeguarding supervision to health practitioners on a one-to-one or group session as set out by the safeguarding supervision policy.
• To provide safeguarding specialist advice and support to staff on a day-to-day basis on issues relating to the safeguarding agenda.
• To maintain records and support staff to maintain records as per the professional and Trust requirements
• To assist the Named Nurses in the development, implementation and delivery of the safeguarding training programme and to participate in learning needs analysis as required.
• To assist the Named Nurses and Safeguarding Team in the production of the Safeguarding Annual Report, provide data in relation to Quality Key Performance Indicators, Section 11 Self assessments and other information as requested by the wider Trust or partner agencies
• To contribute, with support from the Named Nurses to Statutory Safeguarding Reviews and Internal PSIRF processes
• To ensure that recommendations and action plans from Statutory Safeguarding Reviews and Internal PSIRF reviews are implemented appropriately and that any learning from these are incorporated into training and disseminated across the Trust.
• To assist the Named Nurses in the audit programme and support staff where necessary in undertaking safeguarding audit.
• To ensure appropriate action is taken when clinical risks are identified by self, or a team member and that the escalation process is followed appropriately.
• To provide clinical leadership and professional support to staff and team members; this includes active participation in team meetings and deputising for the Named Nurse’s where appropriate.
• To assist with development of relevant policy documents that guide practice.
• To undertake clinical practice duties as determined by Named Nurse’s.
• To support staff dealing with the emotionality of safeguarding and access emotional support for self when dealing with safeguarding issues if required.
• To support the work in the Single Point of Accesses.

Area of expertise:

• To lead on development of defined areas of safeguarding practice as determined by Named Nurses and Head of Safeguarding
• To provide support and leadership within and across East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust on all matters relating to safeguarding people

Communication

• To support staff with the communication of complex and sensitive information effectively with children, young people, and adults.
• Maintain good relationships with other professional leads and all members of staff, thus developing professionalism through the organisation

Key relationships

• Director Cambridgeshire and Peterborough children and Young People’s Services

• Assistant Director for Safeguarding

• Head of Safeguarding.

• Named Nurses.

• Safeguarding Team

• Operational Leads

• Trust Staff

• External agency leads for Safeguarding Children related work

Research and Development Activity

Required to undertake regular R&D activity as appropriate.

Clinical and Practice Governance

• Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/ records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
• Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
• The post holder must adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes.
• Be aware of and adhere to Trust infection control policies and procedures.
• It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with an appropriate Professional Body and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration.
• Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust The post holder must participate in clinical and other audits as required.
• Participate in clinical and management supervision on a regular basis.
• The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness process for their team.
• Equal Opportunities - We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion. Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Disability Confident Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification). All sites are Smoke Free.

If you need this application in an offline format, please let us know.

Immigration Status – East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is a diverse employer and welcomes all job applications. However, potential applicants should note that although the Trust is registered with the Home Office as a sponsor organisation for migrant workers, sponsorship can only be offered against eligible roles. If you are an applicant from outside the UK and do not already hold a self-gained right to work, we recommend you check the Home Office eligibility requirements before making an application.

Please note: Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for some job roles, and this will be identified through filtering questions at the start of any job application on the Trac recruitment system.

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential criteria

• First level Registered Nurse
• Current NMC Registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioner in school nursing or health visiting
• Relevant Degree
• Evidence of further training/education in Safeguarding Children

Desirable criteria

• NSPCC or other Trust accredited safeguarding supervision training or other relevant training
• Recognised professional teaching qualification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Relevant post-qualification experience working in a specialist practitioner role
• Experience of working autonomously in their role working with children and young people
• Relevant experience of safeguarding children and working with families
• Demonstrates a good understanding of the Think Family model and can identify adults at risk
• Demonstrates a good understanding of Legislation and National Guidelines that drive safeguarding policy and practice

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in MASH or multi-agency setting
• Experience of providing clinical supervision and mentoring
• Experience of managing clinical audit
• Awareness of patient/public involvement in service development

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• Demonstrates an ability to identify and manage safeguarding concerns within current practice
• Demonstrates an ability to remain child focused and facilitate the Think Family approach with health practitioners
• Demonstrates an ability to advise other agencies regarding the health needs of people
• Demonstrates professional curiosity and the ability to manage appropriate professional challenge in safeguarding work

Desirable criteria

• IT skills
• Supervision skills both individual and group facilitation skills

Documents

• Job Description (PDF, 168.4KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 168.4KB)
• A message from the Chief Executive (PDF, 193.1KB)
• Application & interview Skills Tips_June26 (PDF, 1.1MB)
• The Trust Values & Ethos_March26 (PDF, 1.4MB)