Safeguarding Health Practitioner - Children's Social Care

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Nurse, Midwife or Health Visitor to be co located within East Sussex County Council Children's Social Care Duty and Assessment Team, providing expert health advice, support and interventions within the safeguarding children arena.
As part of this role you will use your knowledge and expertise around child development and public health to work with families and social care colleagues informing pre-birth assessments and providing specialist health promotion and advice. You will have a confident understanding of the types of abuse children may experience and can evidence significant experience of working with children and families within safeguarding and child protection processes.
You will work autonomously contributing towards complex assessments, compiling and analysing health chronologies as required supporting understanding and management of risk such as Fabricated or Induced Illness, and chronic neglect and growth issues. The successful candidate will participate in multi-agency meetings and decision making, working collaboratively with other agencies providing specialist health information as appropriate. You will also receive further training to support undertaking drug screening in liaison with SWIFT to support broader assessment and planning.
The role includes supporting with the development and delivery of training programmes within the wider safeguarding team and across the Safeguarding Children Partnership., + To work with families and use health expertise to inform pre- birth assessments undertaken by Children Services.
+ To support vulnerable families and children in need in the community by undertaking short term work with families where appropriate
+ To work autonomously, making critical decisions and judgments in relation to the management of safeguarding cases, escalating as required.
+ To undertake research/flag and tag for the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference and participate in the MARAC meetings.
+ To improve communication and understanding between Primary Care, NHS professionals and Children's Services
+ To liaise with Health visiting colleagues and provide specialist knowledge and support if required with the screening and discussion regarding vulnerable families (through joint visits, training, liaison and dissemination of information/advice).
+ To act as a resource to social care colleagues with particular knowledge of child development and primary and community health care working practices
+ To participate in regular clinical and safeguarding supervision with managers across health and social care., + The healthcare provider of first choice for the people of East Sussex.
Our mission is to:
+ Deliver better health outcomes and an excellent experience for everyone we provide with healthcare services.
Our strategic objectives are to:
+ Improve quality and clinical outcomes by ensuring that safe patient care is our highest priority.
+ Play a leading role in local partnerships to meet the needs of our local population and improve and enhance patients' experiences.
+ Use our resources efficiently and effectively for the benefit of our patients and their care to ensure our services are clinically, operationally and financially sustainable.
Our aims are that all services delivered by the Trust are:
+ Safe
+ Effective
+ Caring
+ Responsive and
+ Well led

We are one of the largest organisations in East Sussex with an annual income of £568 million and we are the only integrated provider of acute and community care in Sussex.
Our extensive health services are provided by over 7,000 dedicated members of staff working from two acute hospitals in Hastings and Eastbourne, three community hospitals in Bexhill, Rye and Uckfield, over 100 community sites across East Sussex, and in people's own homes.
In 2020 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated us as 'Good' overall, and 'Outstanding' for being Caring and Effective. The Conquest Hospital in Hastings and our Community Services were rated 'Outstanding' and Eastbourne DGH was rated 'Good' Our two acute hospitals have Emergency Departments and provide 24 hour a day care, offering a comprehensive range of surgical, medical, outpatient and maternity services, supported by a full range of diagnostic and therapy services.
In the summer of 2020, the Trust launched its ambitious 'Building for our Future' (BFF) programme. This once in a lifetime programme aims to redevelop and expand our hospitals at Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill, transforming the environment in which we provide care for generations to come.

A wide range of staff benefits are available to our staff including staff development, enrolment in the NHS pension scheme, auto-enrolment to our Temporary Workforce Service, access to nurseries at EDGH and Conquest, staff restaurants and on-site staff accommodation.
In addition to an internal Occupational Health department, all staff also have access to free psychological support through our confidential Employee Assistance Programme which is available to staff 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Onsite parking is available from only £30 a year.
There has never been a better time to join East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, submit your application today.