Address The Associate Director of Safeguarding will work to provide strategic, professional, clinical leadership and consultancy for vulnerable people including the safeguarding of adults, children and young people across Northampton General Hospital (NGH) NHS Trust.
This will include:
Unborn/maternity
Children
Young people
Adults at risk
Victims of domestic abuse including staff members
Those with mental health and learning disabilities/difficulties
Those with dementia
Clinical lead on violence and aggression
Other associated agendas
This will ensure that the highest standards of Safeguarding adults and children are delivered in line with national, regional and local policy and guidance to facilitate improvements in the quality and provision of Trust wide services.
Work collaboratively across boundaries with partner providers of health and social care to provide a seamless approach to safeguarding service users of the Trust, their families and the general public.
The post holder will oversee the Trust’s compliance with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards relevant to the portfolio and establish systems to ensure that the care needs of vulnerable people are met compassionately.
To have a high profile role as safeguarding lead throughout the Trust with a focus on both strategic as well as local issues.
There are seven main functions of the Associate Director of Safeguarding role:
Expert safeguarding practice
Professional leadership
Education, teaching and research
Strategy development, implementation and evaluation
Quality improvement/assurance/governance
Managerial
Communication
Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.
Our Excellence Values
Compassion
Accountability
Respect
Integrity
Courage
We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.
We are a Defence positive trust, supporting our reservists, veterans, spouses and partners.
The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals.
We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.
We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.
There are seven main functions of the Associate Director of Safeguarding role:
Expert safeguarding practice
Professional leadership
Education, teaching and research
Strategy development, implementation and evaluation
Quality improvement/assurance/governance
Managerial
Communication
Expert Practice
The Associate Director of Safeguarding will function at an expert level of theory and practice, having a breadth of knowledge and skills in areas relevant to safeguarding including prevention, detection and management.
The post holder will:
Act as an expert practitioner demonstrating expert knowledge and skill including the integration of research evidence into practice by expert clinical reasoning and decision making
Utilise advance clinical reasoning skills and evidence based knowledge in the prevention, detection and management of service users and families with highly complex presentations
Make complex clinical judgements in relation to working with service users and their families, including risk identification and management
Utilise professional and expert knowledge, experience and training in the execution of this role to provide sophisticated professional advice, support, scrutiny ad decision making as required or where necessary
Provide direct expert and high quality reporting, for example, Child Safeguarding Practice
Reviews (CSPR’s), Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SAR’s), Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR’s), Serious Incidents and Initial Management Reports
Liaise closely with multi-disciplinary/multi-agency teams in relation to individualised care of service users and their families in order to interpret and analyse complex clinical and non-clinical facts. From this the post holder will regularly provide expert advice and second opinion to health care professionals, including when views may differ or conflict
Access relevant clinical supervision and provide supervision for less experienced practitioners of all professions
Practice within the legal and ethical framework set out by professional codes of conduct and other relevant legislation such as the Children’s Act 2004, Working Together 2018, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Mental Health Act 1983, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards 2009 (Liberty Protection Safeguards –Mental Capacity Amendment Act 2019)
To uphold high professional standards at all times.
Professional Leadership
The Associate Director of Safeguarding will provide professional leadership and support the delivery of a vision for high quality care for service users and their families. They will adhere to, and influence, local and national policy direction as well as professional practice developments
in issues relevant to safeguarding, learning disability, dementia and mental health care.
The post holder will:
Act as an expert resource and provide advice on safeguarding, learning disability, dementia and mental health in relation to clinical interventions, policies, service development and delivery
Demonstrate competency in applying relevant areas of Safeguarding and dementia care, strategically within a multi professional arena. This will include the use of analytical thinking, decision making, leadership and other specialist skills to work with others towards the goal of improving the quality of the service user’s and their families experience
Demonstrate the ability to provide highly complex or sensitive information, where developed persuasive, motivational, negotiating, empathetic and/or reassuring skills are required
Be acknowledged as an expert professional leader, act as a role model and provide clinical supervision as deemed appropriate across the organisation
To have strategic responsibility for ensuring implementation of appropriate Care Quality Commission core standards, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 requirements and other relevant external targets and standards
Develop and sustain networks to support the specialism locally and engage with networks nationally to share knowledge and expertise
Contribute to the identification and development of national standards
Provide motivation and encouragement to all staff to review their practice and support innovation and change
Identify and disseminate ;legal and ethical implications for practice
Actively participate in the Trust’s clinical governance arrangements
Support, contribute to and/or lead the implementation of relevant strategies, policies and performance measures
The post holder will provide clinical expertise, support, guidance and training on policy development and implementation
Lead the on the Safeguarding Assurance Group (SAG), learning disability, dementia and mental health steering groups
Accountable for the Safeguarding Annual Report and Safeguarding Strategy including implementation of action plans
Facilitate the leadership and development of the Learning Disability and Dementia Strategies
Participate in the Nursing and Midwifery Board
To provide support and advice to staff to produce statements or complex case review meetings. Disseminate the learning from external and internal safeguarding reviews and assist in the implementation of recommendations ensuring that the Trust governance structures and functions are used at all times
To possess an in depth knowledge of all legislation and statutory guidance relevant to Safeguarding Adults and Children
Act as the clinical lead for the Trust for violence and aggression to maintain an environment and culture that improves health, safety and security, promoting equality and diversity. This includes chairing the multi-professional monthly Violence and Aggression Group
Lead on quality aspect of discharge, working with the Associate Directors of Nursing and other multi-professionals to improve the way information is sourced and used to evidence and improve care delivery and outcomes
Lead, participate and contribute to Trust wide initiatives and projects as appropriate
Makes a major contribution to the evolution of the newly established model hospital and its subsequent operation with particular regard to the provision of high quality and reputable safeguarding into the future
Participate in the out of hours on call rota, across the trust
Education, Teaching and Research
The Associate Director of Safeguarding will make a contribution to the development of education in the field of Safeguarding, learning disability, dementia and mental health and to the evidence base within these fields of practice. Where appropriate the post holder will work in partnership
with higher educational institutions to influence the under graduate and post graduate programmes. The post holder will:
Develop and deliver teaching and training programmes for all clinical staff at Level 1 -4 as required
Identify skills, competencies and training needs of staff working within the Trust in relation to the prevention, detection and management of Safeguarding, learning disabilities, dementia and mental health issues
Critically appraise the outcomes of research in safeguarding (demonstrating skills in research methodologies and analysis), using findings to inform the strategic direction of services, advising colleagues of the up to date evidence based
Create a positive learning environment where skills and knowledge can be shared using a variety of media thereby developing a culture of continuous improvement and development in practice
Develop and maintain safeguarding adult and children safeguarding audit schedule in line with CSPR’s, SAR’s, DHR's and section 11 Adults
Take every reasonable step to maintain and develop own knowledge , skills and competence
