Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.    Leadership

·         Lead and oversee the operational function of the Corporate Safeguarding Team providing a motivating and inspiring driving force to ensure the highest professional standards.

·         Ensure that self and others work in the best interest of patients, carers, families and the wider organisation and practice in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s “The Code – Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates 2018” or Social Work England’s ‘Professional Standards’ (2019) (or any successor arrangements).

·         Work in accordance with the strategic direction, objectives and policies, protocols, procedures, and guidelines of the Trust.

·         Provide active and transformational leadership whilst delivering personal, service, and corporate objectives.

·         Be a resource for all staff on professional and operational matters.

·         Provide professional advice, support, challenge, scrutiny and decision making as required or where necessary to nurses, midwives and other directors, senior managers and staff across the Trust, safeguarding partnerships and ICB.

·         Uses advanced leadership skills to challenge practice standards and influence constructive and positive change.

·         Utilises sophisticated facilitation and presentation skills and be able to make presentations in a confident and competent manner.

·         Lead safeguarding service improvement and innovations in practice; supporting integrated service delivery and teamwork across professional boundaries.

·         Recognise and reward excellence in practice.

·         Exercise a high degree of personal and professional autonomy, responsibility and accountability, and makes critical judgments of the highest order which are based on sound evidence.

·         Provide mentorship and clinical supervision support to colleagues across the Trust and engage in and promote peer review.

·         Promote a culture which focuses on the provision of high quality, compassionate, safe, effective care and continuous improvement which allows staff to maximise their potential and is underpinned by honest, open communication

2.    Communication

·         Develop positive working relationships with other clinicians and managers to ensure that the organisation is at the forefront of best professional practice and service delivery.

·         Provide, receive and analyse highly complex, sensitive and/or contentious information at both individual and group levels and in verbal, written or presentation formats, on a variety of subjects ranging from professional/clinical issues to human resource and operational issues.

·         Produce high quality written reports, including contributing to Trust Board reports, on behalf of the Chief Nurse as required.

·         Provides comprehensive advice and support to senior colleagues when dealing with complex concerns, complaints, clinical and critical incidents, including chairing hearing panels and leading on investigations.

·         Communicate effectively with a wide range of people in a manner consistent with their level of understanding, culture and background and preferred ways of understanding.

·         Design and refine systems for effective, timely and information sharing, provision of court reports/statements and provision of support for staff.

3.    Responsibility for Patient Safety, Quality and risk.

·         Ensure the safety and well-being of patients, service users and colleagues, taking any necessary corrective action as appropriate to prevent any deterioration in service standards, or to the safety and welfare of patients and staff.

·         Take a leadership role in maintenance of local emergency and business continuity plans in relation to safeguarding.

·         Ensure risks are appropriately identified, managed and reported on the relevant Risk Register.

·         Manage the implementation of systems, control processes and risk management arrangements to support monitoring of compliance with Safeguarding clinical governance standards, other Trust wide policies and processes and best practice requirements within areas of responsibility.

·         Working with the Trust Management Team, to ensure the continued improvement of patient care and safety.

·         Utilise extensive experience as a nurse/registered professional and safeguarding expert to support staff to deliver high quality, safe, efficient and effective patient care.

·         Provide oversight of quality governance within the corporate safeguarding team and provide robust assurance to demonstrate safe, effective care is delivered and to a high standard.

·         Promptly escalate highly complex safeguarding cases to the Chief Nurse.

·         Ensure oversight of quality-of-service delivery within corporate safeguarding team, develop high quality services and address areas where quality could improve as part of a whole system service delivery.

4.    Workforce

·         Directly manage Corporate Safeguarding Team, Heads of Service and Business Support Manager ensuring that appropriate systems are in place for their management and development.

·         Share the values that are important to the Group and behave in a way that reflects these.

·         Ensure that the recruitment, retention, motivation and development of staff is a key management priority.

5.    Planning and Organising

·         Attend, chair and organise meetings (including those at director and Board level), seminars, hearings, briefings, investigations both within and external to the Trust as required.

·         Analyses complex issues, information and situations and takes any necessary corrective action.

·         Plans and facilitates discussions and debates with professional colleagues at all levels using a solution focused approach to address professional and service challenges and problems.

·         Organises the production of KPI submission, quarterly and annual reporting and scheduling of Safeguarding Operations meeting and Safeguarding Committee to ensure a coherent progression through governance arrangements to Trust Board.

·         Ensure all safeguarding related policies are regularly reviewed and kept up to date.

6.    Responsibilities for Trust Learning and Development

·         Support the delivery of the Trust Strategy, Fundamentals of Care and any other appropriate care standards audits or successor arrangements, including participation in Care Quality Commission assessments and reviews.

·         Interprets relevant national and professional policy and translates these into actions for implementation locally, where appropriate.

·         Undertake formal appraisal of direct reports and for ensuring that they are trained, supported and developed accordingly.

·         Contribute to the identification and management of organisational risk by providing analysis and expert advice to the organisation on the impacts of safeguarding legislation, policy, and statutory guidance and on the recommendations of national Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Safeguarding Adult Reviews, Domestic Homicide Reviews and Local Learning Reviews.

7.    Responsibilities for data and information resources

·         Organise the production of regular quarterly and annual safeguarding reports.

·         Work with the Divisional nursing teams to improve the ways information is sourced and used to evidence and improve care delivery and outcomes.

·         Promotes the use of evidence to support the delivery of modern and appropriate care.

·         Utilises high level literacy, numeracy and analytical skills in the compilation of reports and the management of information/data.

·         Ensures that all information used and accessed is managed, utilised and stored/archived effectively.

·         Accountable for ensuring that patient confidentiality is maintained throughout all information systems/sources and in accordance with corporate/national policy and professional standards.

·         Manages complex and large amounts of data and can summarise this into easy-to-understand summaries/reports.

·         Uses and manipulates electronic information e.g. spreadsheets into performance summaries/tables/chart.

8.    Research, Development and Audit

·         Maintains own professional knowledge and competence to meet professional registration standards and the requirements of the role.

·         Oversee the monitoring of all action plans from learning reviews, audits, improvement plans etc..

·         Uses professional knowledge, expertise, intelligence from local and national develops to inform a relevant, outcomes focused cycle of safeguarding audit.

·         Develop an annual safeguarding plan, monitored through the Safeguarding Committee, that identifies measurable improvements, policy and practice development and cultural change throughout the year.

·         Deliver key performance indicators to successful outcome.

·         Ensure there are systems in place to co-ordinate monitoring and follow-up of recommendations from internal and external audits

9.    Financial management

·         Comply with Trust standing financial instructions and ensure that all accountable staff comply with the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions.

·         Responsible for managing, co-ordinating and monitoring budget expenditure and making recommendations and implementing cost improvements and investments programmes.

·         Manage services within his/her control to ensure that budgets are adhered to and that end of year targets are met.

·         Manage departmental budget / approved project implementation costs and benefits delivery, including realising agreed financial savings