Specialist Practitioner in Safeguarding

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust; Greater Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester seeks a safeguarding professional to lead complex safeguarding across the Cancer Services network. You will provide expert clinical knowledge, support DoLs, early help assessments, and multi-agency referrals to protect vulnerable patients.

Based at the Withington site with flexible working, you will collaborate with safeguarding colleagues, MASA, and partner agencies to ensure safety, equity, and high‑quality care while contributing to governance

Qualifications

• Comprehensive knowledge of safeguarding legislation and national guidance.
• Experience conducting safeguarding risk assessments and referrals.
• Ability to design and deliver safeguarding training.
• Experience in Oncology, Children, or Learning Disability nursing.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert clinical safeguarding knowledge to colleagues, patients and carers.
• Assess and manage safeguarding cases across inpatient and outpatient settings.
• Facilitate DoLs applications and multi-agency referrals (MARAC, etc.).
• Maintain accurate safeguarding records and contribute to governance and learning.

Skills

Safeguarding expertise

Analytical risk assessment

Training delivery

Communication skills

Education

NMC/HCPC registration

Degree or equivalent

Job description

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Protecting Children and Young People

• Identifying and responding to concerns about abuse, neglect, exploitation, or harm.
• Supporting children and young people at risk and working with partner agencies to ensure their safety.
• Ensuring children receive the best possible outcomes through early intervention.

Safeguarding Adults at Risk

• Protecting adults who may be vulnerable because of age, illness, disability, mental health conditions, or other circumstances.
• Preventing abuse, neglect, discrimination, financial exploitation, and self-neglect.

Early Identification and Prevention

• Recognising signs of abuse, neglect, domestic abuse, modern slavery, radicalisation, and other safeguarding concerns.
• Taking action before harm escalates

Information Sharing

• Sharing relevant information appropriately between health, social care, police, and other agencies to protect individuals.
• Learning from and sharing learning from safeguarding reviews where poor information sharing contributed to harm.

Multi-Agency Working

• Collaborating with local authorities, police, education providers, and voluntary organisations.
• Supporting Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA) and safeguarding partnerships.

Workforce Training and Accountability

• Ensuring all staff receive appropriate safeguarding training relevant to their role.
• Contributing to evidence governance and accountability through the NHS Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework

Addressing Health Inequalities

• Recognising that some groups face increased risk of abuse and poorer access to support.
• Ensuring safeguarding practices are inclusive and equitable, and supporting patients and clinical teams to identify/implement reasonable adjustments.

Clinical

1. Provide expert clinical knowledge and support to colleagues, patients and carers at the Trust and Network-wide on safeguarding
2. Independently assess, implement, and evaluate outcomes of patients with complex safeguarding needs, facilitate Deprivation of Liberty (DoLs) applications and notifications, Early Help assessments, RIC, MARAC and other multi - agency referrals.
3. Ensure that all patient records are accurate and updated in a timely manner.
4. Demonstrate enhanced communication skills when dealing with difficult or challenging situations.
5. Manage a clinical caseload, prioritising patient need across in-patient and out-patient settings to enable rapid response to calls for urgent advice.
6. Participate in multi-disciplinary and multi-agency discussions to ensure continuity and co-ordination of optimal patient care.
7. Support vulnerable patients, autistic people, people with learning disabilities, and their clinical teams to identify and implement reasonable adjustments.
8. To be based at The Christie NHS FT Withington site. Some flexibility around working hours and some flex for working from home days, in line with service needs and in agreement with the Safeguarding Lead Nurse.
9. Work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies across Cancer Services to ensure patient needs are met, especially in relation to on-going safeguarding concerns and discharge arrangements.
10. To be flexible to changes within Safeguarding and across the organisation.
11. Support staff with their own safeguarding needs i.e., domestic violence, and to advise them on appropriate specialised avenues of support and relevant formal frameworks/processes they can use.
12. To work independently but share information with the Safeguarding colleagues and Matron, facilitating up-to-date overviews of patients needing Safeguarding across the service.
13. Frequent exposure to patients and their relatives, who may be highly emotional, have delirium and/or display aggression, and to staff members disclosing sensitive information, i.e. domestic violence/abuse etc.
14. Provide expert advice regarding the Mental Capacity Act (2005), Best Interest Decision Making, Lasting Power of Attorney, Court of Protection matters and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
15. Act as a source of expert advice for Prevent Duty concerns and support staff in undertaking referrals and risk assessments relating to radicalisation.
16. Provide specialist safeguarding input for patients with complex family circumstances, young carers, domestic abuse concerns, parental cancer diagnoses and end-of-life care situations.
17. Support clinical teams in undertaking safeguarding risk assessments and developing safeguarding plans that promote patient safety and wellbeing.
18. Provide specialist advice regarding self-neglect, hoarding, exploitation, modern slavery, human trafficking and contextual safeguarding concerns.
19. Maintain accurate safeguarding records and documentation in accordance with Trust policy, professional standards and information governance requirements.

Managerial and Clinical Leadership

1. Provide specialist safeguarding knowledge to clinical colleagues, patients and carers both within and outside the Trust.
2. Participate in the evaluation of service delivery, identify areas for improvement, initiate change, and work with the Safeguarding Matron and appropriate teams to design and deliver service improvements.
3. Guide, influence, develop, and implement safeguarding policy within the Trust.
4. Support the development of safeguarding services at local, regional and national level through active contribution at appropriate multi-disciplinary forums within the Trust.
5. Support clinical developments/projects/clinical research to promote excellence in patient care.
6. Receive safeguarding supervision and mentorship to facilitate reflective practice.
7. Collect and collate data on the safeguarding activity ensuring the delivery of a high-quality cost-effective service.
8. Support/lead internal audit opportunities and resulting service assessment relating to Safeguarding.
9. Work with Business Intelligence to develop systems to monitor Trust Safeguarding activity and identify areas for improvement.
10. Provide formal safeguarding supervision in line with Trust policy and national safeguarding guidance.
11. Contribute to Trust safeguarding assurance processes, Board reports, external reviews and inspections.
12. Represent the Trust at statutory safeguarding meetings, safeguarding adult's boards, safeguarding children's partnerships and regional safeguarding forums as required.
13. Provide professional challenge where safeguarding practice falls below expected standards and support teams to achieve improvements.
14. Support the Safeguarding Matron in monitoring compliance with statutory and mandatory safeguarding requirements across the organisation.

Education and Development

1. To act as part of a highly specialist resource team within the hospital and assist with the assessment of safeguarding training needs across the range of disciplines.
2. To support staff to identify and implement reasonable for vulnerable patients with complex needs, autistic people, and people with learning difficulties.
3. Maintain up to date high standard safeguarding skills and knowledge and maintain awareness of professional/national issues.
4. Maintain enhanced communication skills.
5. Identify safeguarding training needs Trust-wide and contribute to implementation and evaluation of teaching programmes accessible to colleagues within the multi-disciplinary team.
6. Provide evidenced based education, information and training for a range of disciplines both internally and externally to the organisation.
7. Maintain a professional portfolio to demonstrate competency in line with Trust guidance.
8. Act always in accordance with relevant Code of Conduct and guiding documents.
9. Contribute to and participate in Service Reviews.
10. Represent The Christie at Safeguarding Boards or meetings that require Safeguarding representation in the absence of the Safeguarding Lead Nurse.
11. To provide information for internal and external reports or audits, SARS, and policy reviews.
12. Develop, deliver and evaluate safeguarding training programmes in line with the Intercollegiate Documents for Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Adults.
13. Provide specialist education and awareness sessions in relation to mental capacity, domestic abuse, Prevent Duty, exploitation, and other emerging safeguarding issues.
14. Support the development of a safeguarding learning culture through reflective practice, safeguarding supervision, and dissemination of learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Domestic Homicide Reviews and other safeguarding learning events.

Clinical Governance

1. Participate in clinical audit and research to influence safeguarding standards and disseminate findings through presentation to professional groups.
2. Contribute to the writing of policies relevant to safeguarding.
3. Promote patient and public involvement activities in the specialist area, leading to service improvement.
4. Promote people's equality, diversity and rights to shape appropriate service provision that is equitable and accessible.
5. Contribute to the investigation and review of incidents, complaints, safeguarding reviews and serious events to identify learning and improve practice.
6. Monitor safeguarding themes, trends and outcomes to support quality improvement and reduce risk.
7. Support compliance with the NHS Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework and associated regulatory requirements.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Current Registration with: Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), or Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), or Social Work England (SWE).
• Degree or equivalent professional qualification.
• Evidence of Level 4 Safeguarding competence in accordance with Intercollegiate Guidance.
• Evidence of ongoing Continuing Professional Development.

Desirable criteria

• Degree in relevant subject.
• Enhanced Communication Skills Training.
• Safeguarding Supervision Training.
• Practice Assessor/Mentor Qualification.
• Master's degree or postgraduate qualification in Safeguarding, Leadership or related field.
• Experience within Oncology Services.
• Experience of Board-level reporting.
• Experience of policy development and review.

Experience

Essential criteria

• 5 years post basic qualification.
• Experience of safeguarding.
• Experience of delivering training.
• Able to work autonomously and part of a team.
• Experience of Oncology, Children, or Learning Disability nursing.
• Experience of managing complex safeguarding cases.
• Experience of multi-agency working.
• Experience of undertaking safeguarding risk assessments and referrals.
• Experience of Mental Capacity Act and DoLS application processes.
• Experience of safeguarding supervision.
• Experience of service improvement, audit or quality improvement projects.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of providing safeguarding supervision.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Comprehensive knowledge of safeguarding adults and safeguarding children legislation and national guidance.
• Knowledge of the Care Act 2014.
• Knowledge of Working Together to Safeguard Children.
• Knowledge of Mental Capacity Act (2005) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
• Knowledge of Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls frameworks.
• Knowledge of Prevent Duty requirements.
• Knowledge of Learning Disability and Autism legislation and reasonable adjustment requirements.
• Knowledge of information sharing and confidentiality principles.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of Policy writing/review.
• Experience of representing a service at internal and external reviews and Boards.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Excellent assessment and risk management skills.
• Ability to analyse highly complex safeguarding information.
• Excellent written communication and report-writing skills.
• Ability to provide professional challenge where required.
• Ability to influence and negotiate with senior colleagues and external agencies.
• Ability to deliver presentations and training to large groups.
• Advanced IT and data management skills.

Desirable criteria

• Prior attendance at Safeguarding training i.e., FGM, Learning Disabilities, Child exploitation, DV.

Values

Essential criteria

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours.

Other

Essential criteria

• Demonstrates flexibility in working hours.
• Able to perform a wide range of duties.
• Able to lead the Safeguarding service in absence of Safeguarding Matron

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.

Application Information - If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the