Safeguarding Children Advisor/Practice Development Lead

West London NHS Trust; Southall; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

West London NHS Trust invites applications for a Safeguarding Children Practice Development Lead. This 2-year fixed-term role focuses on safeguarding children across Hounslow services, reporting to the Named Nurse and Deputy Named Nurse.

You will provide expert safeguarding guidance, supervision and training to practitioners across the Trust. The post supports the safeguarding strategy, with responsibilities across Education, Police and Social Care partnerships, and requires a professional

Qualifications

• Substantial safeguarding children experience.
• Experience working across agency boundaries.
• Experience in child protection procedures and supervision.

Responsibilities

• Deliver safeguarding children supervision per Trust policy.
• Provide expert advice on complex safeguarding and child protection cases.
• Support multi-agency safeguarding arrangements with partners.
• Contribute to safeguarding training, audits and service development.
• Lead learning from safeguarding reviews and incidents.

Skills

Safeguarding experience

Leadership

Communication

Supervision

Reflective practice

Education

Registered Nurse or related professional qualification

Degree level education

Specialist Community Public Health Nurse

Job description

Use the job search to find and apply for roles using keywords or look at the roles listed below.

Band 7

Main area Safeguarding Grade Band 7 Contract Fixed term: 24 months (Business Development) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 222-CORP-011-A

Site Armstrong Way Town Southall Salary £55,524 - £62,652 Per annum inc HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 19/11/2026 23:59

West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced safeguarding professional to join our Safeguarding Children Team as a Safeguarding Children Practice Development Lead.

This opportunity is available as a 2-year fixed-term contract or a 2-year secondment opportunity for substantive West London NHS Trust staff, subject to managerial approval.

Working closely with the Named Nurse and Deputy Named Nurse, you will provide expert safeguarding advice, supervision, training and support to practitioners across the Trust. The role has a particular focus on Hounslow Services, while contributing to safeguarding activity across West London NHS Trust.

What we're looking for

• Registered Nurse, Midwife or Specialist Community Public Health Practitioner.
• Significant safeguarding children experience, including child protection and complex family work.
• Strong knowledge of safeguarding legislation, guidance and best practice.
• Excellent leadership, communication and supervision skills.
• Commitment to reflective practice, learning and service improvement.

For an informal discussion, contact Rebecca Heorton, Deputy Named Professional Safeguarding Children and Young People.

Main duties of the job

• Deliver safeguarding children supervision in line with Trust policy.
• Provide expert advice and support to staff managing complex safeguarding and child protection cases.
• Support multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, including partnership working with Children's Social Care, education and police.
• Contribute to safeguarding training, audits, quality improvement and service development.
• Support learning from safeguarding reviews, incidents and audits to improve practice.
• Deputise for the Deputy Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children and Young People when required.

Working for our organisation

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.

Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.

The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.

The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

Person specification

Education/ Qualifications

• Registered Nurse or other professional qualification eg. Social work
• Educated to degree level
• Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Qualification
• Teaching Qualification or Safeguarding supervision course

Knowledge & Experience

• Substantial experience working with children and families
• Working across agency boundaries
• Experience of working with vulnerable families
• Supervision of staff
• Working within a multi-disciplinary team
• Involvement in child protection procedures
• Teaching experience
• Working in the community
• Experience of providing safeguarding children supervision

Skills, Abilities and Attributes

• Commitment to safeguarding and Promote the welfare of children
• Knowledge of legislation relating to safeguarding
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to lead and motivate staff
• Ability to autonomously, motivate self and plan workload
• Team Working
• Experience of using of electronic recording system
• Experience in training and groupwork
• Clinical audit
• Experience of using of electronic recording system

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks . After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR ).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We encourage the thoughtful use of technology as a demonstration of strong time management and a commitment to innovation. However, we encourage applicants to personalise their recruitment application to showcase their unique skills and experiences.

While AI-generated content can be a helpful tool, relying solely on generic responses instead of highlighting your own strengths and achievements may impact the success of your application. The success of an application will always be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria for the role, so it is important to ensure that your application and any supporting information clearly demonstrate how you meet these requirements.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

At West London NHS Trust, we want you to support you to build a career you can be proud of and this starts before your first day with us. Our people live our values every day as they deliver, manage and work to improve our services to patients, carers, families and other professionals.

We’re committed to making our recruitment process clear and efficient. It’s in everyone’s interest that we get the very best people on board as soon as we can.