Designated Doctor for Child Death

The post holder will work as a key member of the Shropshire Telford & Wrekin ICB Safeguarding Team and will support the ICB in meeting their statutory duties as both commissioners and employers (Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), Section 11 Children Act 2004, Care Act 2014, Promoting the Health and Wellbeing of Looked After Children (HM 2015), Child Death Review Statutory and Operational Guidance: England (HM 2018) and support the continual improvement and development of the child death review partnership agenda.
Work with the Designated Nurse for Child Death Reviews, CDOP Co-ordinator, Named Nurse for Child Death Reviews, Child Well-being Professional, Lead for Learning from Child Deaths and the wider Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin ICB Safeguarding team to ensure that learning from the overview process is embedded into the commissioning strategy and that NHS providers embed learning into daily practice and that this is monitored.
The role is for 2 PA's per week and salary is per session., Designated Doctor for Child Death is a clinical expert and strategic leader, taking a strategic, professional lead on all aspects of the health service contribution to the child death service and processes across the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin area.
· The post holder will provide support in relation to child death 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 the Level 5 competency levels of the Intercollegiate Competency Framework Safeguarding Children.
· The role has a key function of providing independent scrutiny and challenge in the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) within the overall Surrey Child Death Review Partnership Process.
· This post will provide expert strategic leadership, independent scrutiny and challenge in all aspects relating to the overview of child deaths across

Working for our organisation
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 onsite working to meet the needs of the service., The post holder will need to build and maintain constructive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to:
· Internal ICB staff including managers, colleagues, and senior management as appropriate
· Coroner and Coroners Officers
· Medical Examiners
· Independent Chair for CDOP
· Public Health Teams
· ICS partners, including portfolio leads, Local Authorities and Provider and Place Collaboratives
· Local Safeguarding Partnerships
· Non-NHS organisations (including Education, CAFCAS, Housing)
· Members of the public and service users as appropriate
· External consultancy, as required
Key Duties & Responsibilities
· Work with ICB Safeguarding Team (which includes Safeguarding Adults Children, Child Death Review Team, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Team and Children in Care Team) to ensure that Commissioners meet their responsibilities towards child death reviews and learning is undertaken.
· Responsible for establishing and maintaining excellent working relationships and communication links with a wide range of professionals within health, police, probation, coroner, medical examiner, children and families court advisory services, social care, education and independent providers. Including liaising with professionals for safeguarding children and adults within external to the region
· To be able to provide independent scrutiny and confidently challenge practice and support colleagues in challenging perceived views offered by other professionals.
· Provide expert advice across the ICBs, liaising with other health organisations
· Provide support to the specialist Nurse for Child Death
· The Designated Doctor will provide the child death 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 for Child Death 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 child death issue focus
· Contributing an analytical approach to the working of the designated team
Work alongside the Children in Care and Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children to ensure functions are met and not duplicated, providing overlap and cover when necessary
Operational Responsibility
· In conjunction with the Specialist Nurse for Child Death Reviews, consult with local authority, police, coroner, medical examiner and providers to develop integrated pathways in response to all child deaths
· Contribute to an annual report with the CDR Team summarising the activities of the CDOP
· To assess, scrutinise and evaluate CDOP papers prior to the panel meetings including presenting the summaries during the meeting
· To participate as an active member of CDOP and Neonatal CDOP; be responsible for presenting cases and contributing to the final, independent scrutiny of a child's death.
· Support and advise other professionals on the management of all forms of child death processes, including relevant legal frameworks and documentation.
· Assess and evaluate evidence, write reports and present information to any related child death meeting where appropriate.
· Provide advice and signposting to other professionals about legal processes, key research and policy documents
· Advise on 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 on child death case focused support and supervision for medical health staff at all levels within organisations across healthcare services that deliver health services in relation to the death of a child or young person
· To provide mentoring as required to the Named Doctors for Child Death
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
· Constantly strive for value for money and greater efficiency in the use of resources
Human Resources Responsibility
· Meet the organisations and the professional body's requirements for training attendance

• Attend relevant regional and national continuing professional development activities to maintain skills. This includes receiving specific training that relates to specialist activities.


• Receive regular safeguarding/child protection supervision (quarterly as a minimum), peer review and undertake reflective practice

· The Designated Doctor for Child Death will have an annual appraisal under arrangements in place with the ICB
Information Management Responsibility
· To be proficient in the use of the electronic CDOP and NCMD (IT Systems) where information and detail in relation to the child or young person is stored and maintained as the record keeping platform for the Child Death Service.
· Responsible for the operation of one or more information systems
· Manages, maintains, and develops directorate information system
Planning and Organisation Responsibility
· Work closely with the Public Health Teams and Independent Chair for CDOP to support in the development of child death review arrangements across health providers and the local authority, clearly identifying links to national, regional and local priorities and policy objectives.
· 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
· Advise the ICB, Public Health and Safeguarding Partnership on national policies and guidelines related to child death reviews
· Work with ICB Safeguarding team professionals in supporting all activities necessary to ensure that the ICB oversees and meet their responsibilities in child death reviews
· Work closely with the ICB Safeguarding team; ensuring any local and national recommendations in relation to child death reviews and risk are embedded in local practice.
· Assist and facilitate in the development of quality assurance systems across the health economy.
Research and Development Responsibility
· Advising on audit and monitoring the quality, acceptability, and effectiveness of child death review arrangements.
· Assist in the development of child death review locally and nationally through professional associations and others.
· Regularly undertake research and development activity
· Undertakes complex audits/surveys related to programme
Freedom to Act
· The Designated Doctor for Child Death is a lone autonomous worker having to make critical judgements in a high-risk area of patient care.
· Responsible for analysing complex and sensitive information relating to child deaths. Information is received from both within and external to the ICB
· Expert and independent scrutiny frequently sought by staff on a day to day basis. The analysis and judgment of risk has often to be made within tight timescales to enable them to act
· Make professional judgements and recommendations taking into account resources and policy
· Expert liaising with professionals from other agencies to ensure effective working together.
· 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 for child death 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 child death 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:
· ICB Safeguarding Team
· Members of the ICB Nursing and Quality Directorate
· Contract Managers and Commissioners
· Provider Safeguarding Teams / Named Children in Care Nurses and Doctors
· Coroner and Coroners Officers
· Medical Examiners
· Independent Chair for CDOP
· Public Health Teams
· Designated colleagues across the region
· Police
· Key Managers in other health, social care and voluntary service agencies
· NHSE Regional and National Safeguarding Teams
· Local Safeguarding Partnerships
· Local Community Safety Partnerships