Joanna Babic

The role of a Specialist Safeguarding Nurse for Children involves a range of responsibilities aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of children in the care of healthcare professionals.

Including providing expertise and leadership in protecting children from harm, offering specialist advice and training to healthcare staff, supporting court reports, and ensuring compliance with national and local safeguarding policies. Key responsibilities include:

• Developing and embedding safeguarding policies: Collaborate with the Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children to create and implement safeguarding policies that comply with legislation and statutory guidance.
• Supervision and advice: Provide supervision and advice to clinicians and other staff to ensure that children are safeguarded effectively.
• Support for staff: Offer duty nurse support on a rotational basis to advise staff on safeguarding aspects of their care delivery.
• Participation in audits: Participate in regular audits to ensure that care delivery adheres to safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Representation: Act up for the Named Nurse, where necessary, to represent the organization within the multi-agency partnership arena. These responsibilities are crucial for maintaining high standards of care and ensuring that children are protected from harm. The role requires a strong commitment to safeguarding, and a willingness to engage in multi-agency work to ensure the safety of children in the community.
• Participate and lead in the delivery of IMR (Individual Management Review) within the service.
• Participate and lead in the delivery of the Lundy Model across the service footprint, including the implementation and carrying out of audits, SOPs, training packages, and service delivery templates.
• Led with the delivery of enhanced collaborative working within UHMBT Midwifery Service and Health Visiting to identify and support high-risk antenatal women and families.

Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner for Lancashire South Cumbria Foundation Trust. The role is to provide expert advice on safeguarding issues, policies, procedures, and clinical practice, enabling the Trust and its workforce to conform to mandatory and statutory frameworks pertaining to the Safeguarding Agenda.

The role incorporates leadership, supervision, training, and expert advice in the management of Safeguarding/MCA practice, along with supporting the Safeguarding Leadership Team in the development of safeguarding activities. This supported LSCFT and its workforce to conform to the local, county, and national frameworks and guidelines pertaining to the agenda.

Core duties included:

• Supporting MASH
• Attending and supporting MARAC.
• Supporting the Cumbria Safeguarding Adult Board and the Cumbria Children Safeguarding Assurance Partnership Boards' subgroups.
• Managing Paediatric liaison service
• Supporting and contributing to serious incident review panels/ Domestic Homicide reviews and Mortality reviews.
• Safeguarding Champions Lead
• Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner for Perinatal services

Core duties included:

• Advise and inform new parents on issues such as feeding (including breastfeeding, infant feeding, weaning, and healthy eating), sleeping, home safety, physical and emotional development, immunization, and other aspects of childcare.
• Give support from late pregnancy and birth up to the child's fifth birthday, providing a gateway to other services as required.
• Carry out health reviews, including the two-year health review, to assess growth, development, speech, language, and communication, and identify any needs and required support.
• Identify risk factors and signs of concern for the child, and work with organizations to protect and safeguard children, as well as ensuring families receive support during safeguarding arrangements.
• Manage parent and baby clinics at surgeries, community centers, and Sure Start children's centers, and run specialist sessions on areas such as baby massage, exercise, and child development.
• Provide support in a range of areas, including maternal and infant mental health, domestic violence, and healthy weight and nutrition.
• Support government initiatives to tackle child poverty and social exclusion and use specialist healthcare interventions to meet the needs of families
• Maintain and update client records.
• Perinatal lead, supporting training for all health visitors.

As per previous Job description for Virgin Care Health Visitor