Job Overview

Health and Care Jersey is seeking to appoint a Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children to provide senior clinical leadership in line with Intercollegiate Safeguarding Guidance (Jersey Law) and the Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 2022. While Working Together 2023 is not statutory in Jersey, it remains influential in guiding best practice.

This strategic role supports health and social care colleagues across the system to ensure the highest standards in identifying and responding to child abuse and neglect across the Island of Jersey.

The successful candidate will:

Hold consultant status in Paediatric Medicine with completion of higher professional training

Have substantial safeguarding/child protection experience, including knowledge of legislation and court processes

Be clinically active in safeguarding/child protection (or have been within the last two years)

Demonstrate strong leadership, negotiation and multi-agency working skills

We offer a 3 PAs per week role with agile working, the majority of duties undertaken remotely, access to an established safeguarding team for professional development, and support for research interests in safeguarding children.

This is a unique opportunity to influence safeguarding practice at a system-wide level while enjoying flexible working in Jersey.

For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Jessie Marshall, Deputy Chief Nurse directly on 01534 442077 or email J.Marshall2@health.gov.je

For a full job description and HR queries, please contact c.haynes@health.gov.je

Job Purpose

The role of the designated doctor for safeguarding children is to take a strategic and professional lead for safeguarding children across Jersey in partnership with other Designated and Named professionals.

The Designated doctor provides advice across the health and social care system with reference to planning, strategy and commissioning with regard to safeguarding children.

The post holder works as a clinical expert to the Accountable Officers Group, the health system, other local partners on matters relating to safeguarding children.

The post holder will lead and support all activities necessary to ensure that organisations within healthcare services and the wider island system meet their responsibilities to safeguard and protect children and young people from harm.

A key function of this role is to ensure a full contribution from medical and health services as part of an effective multi agency response across the system when there are serious concerns about abuse, neglect or perplexing presentations.

Using their expertise, the designated doctor for safeguarding children will provide clinical advice and supervision to the Named Doctor for safeguarding children, paediatricians and other medical practitioners about safeguarding children living in complex circumstances.

Statutory Responsibilities

Work as a member of the safeguarding/child protection team across the health system. 

Provide expert clinical advice to the Safeguarding Partnership, and work with other Designated and named professionals to ensure there is effective contribution from the health and social care system to the work of the partnership.

Provide leadership, oversight and direction of those cases that are presenting with complex medical needs or perplexing to health and wider agencies in the partnership. The post holder will not hold and manage these cases but will support and direct others to do so effectively, making recommendations for actions and interventions.

Provide advice about safeguarding/child protection risks to organisations across the health community.

Provide supervision to named doctors and other medical professionals.

Enhance and lead the network of named safeguarding children professionals across Jersey to enable the development and sharing of good practice in relation to safeguarding children island wide.

Advise on practice guidance and policies and ensure good Governance principles are applied with regards to audit and developing a learning culture.

Ensure expert advice based on specialist experience is provided to professionals based on their knowledge of policy and procedures and the day-to-day management of children, young people, and families.

Provide support and supervision with regards to Child protection medical examinations.

Provide advice (direct and indirect) to colleagues on the assessment, treatment, and clinical services for all forms of child maltreatment, particularly perplexing presentations.

Advises on appropriate Health representation as part of the Child Death overview process.

Attend relevant regional and national networks.

Provide safeguarding/child protection health advice on policy and individual cases to statutory and voluntary agencies, including the police and social care.

Review the case history of children and young people who have perplexing presentations, making recommendation, supporting professionals to implement actions, evaluating the outcomes.

Provide advice and expertise to the Accountable Officers Group about the way services are commissioned in a way that supports good outcomes for children who need safeguarding, along with service specifications.

Statutory Responsibilities continued

Evaluate and review current practice in relation to safeguarding children and the scope for further developments in line with the requirements of clinical governance, considering all relevant legislation along with national and local guidance.

Consider the findings of relevant published research studies and other documents and summarise the key messages when responding to concerns about serious abuse and neglect of children with complex health needs and presentations.

Identify areas for collaboration in multi-agency audits/research projects.

Develop in partnership with the system suite of children safeguarding performance indicators.

Act as a source of advice on the training needs for Health and social care professionals.

Be clinically active including child protection work, and/or meet the regulatory standards regarding GMC registration and ensuring up to date practice.

Person specification

Essential citeria

Full GMC registration with license to practice in Paediatrics

• Primary Medical degree
• Full GMC registration
• Entry on the GMC Specialist Register or

Person Specification - Essential criteria continued

• - To have obtained CCT and be on specialist register
• - To Have obtained CESR and be on specialist register or,
• - Within 6 months of obtaining CCT with recommendation of programme director
• - Have completed specific post registration training in safeguarding and or child protection at master's level or equivalent
• - Strong knowledge of healthcare regulations, standards and best practices
• - Excellent working knowledge in areas of clinical governance, including risk, incident and complaints
• - Knowledge of the fundamentals of harm free care
• - Excellent IT skills and familiar with the Microsoft packages
• - Proficient in data collection, analysis and reporting
• - Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders
• - Strong leadership and team-building skills
• - Ability to work unsupervised, on personal initiative and as part of a team, working across professional boundaries and across the organisation
• - Have substantial clinical professional training and experience relating to the care of babies, children and young people, having recently practiced in the field of safeguarding and child protection
• - Relevant clinical experience in the field of child protection and the law applying to children and in the court process experience of providing child protection supervision 

Qualifications

The post holder must have an Enhanced DBS check. Named and Designated professional posts comprise a registered activity under the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

The designated doctor should:

1.           Hold consultant status in Paediatric Medicine

2.           Have undergone higher professional training in paediatrics

3.           Have substantial clinical experience in the field of safeguarding/child protection and substantial experience of the legislation relating to children and young people, and the court process

4.           Be clinically active (or have held an active clinical position in the previous two years) in the field of safeguarding/child protection, as part of their clinical commitments

5.            Have proven negotiating and leadership skills