Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner (Children)

Wrightington Wigan & Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Wigan; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider is looking for a full-time Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner (Children) to join their safeguarding team. The role involves working closely with safeguarding professionals and multi-disciplinary teams to ensure compliance with safeguarding duties. Candidates should have relevant qualifications and significant experience in safeguarding children and families. This position promotes a whole family approach to care and requires excellent communication and leadership skills.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Supportive team environment

Continuing Professional Development opportunities

Qualifications

• Recent experience in safeguarding children, young people, and families.
• Experience in multi-agency working.
• Experience in providing safeguarding support and advice.

Responsibilities

• Work alongside Named Safeguarding Professionals for effective safeguarding.
• Assess and implement care for service users with complex safeguarding needs.
• Provide supervision and guidance for safeguarding practices.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Time management

Leadership

Ability to work autonomously

Data analysis

Teaching and presentation skills

Education

Current NMC Registration

Degree level education

Post registration education in Child Protection

Job description

Go back Wrightington Wigan & Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner (Children)

The closing date is 28 November 2025

An opportunity has arisen within the Think Family Safeguarding Service for an enthusiastic and skilled Specialist Practitioner within the Safeguarding Children's Team. This post is 37.5 hours, full time, permanent position.

Would you like to work as part of a friendly, passionate, and caring safeguarding team?

We are seeking a highly experienced practitioner with a strong interest in safeguarding children and has a genuine commitment to safeguarding under a whole family strategy.

The post holder will be expected to demonstrate a sound understanding of the issues relating to children within a safeguarding context. The Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner Think Family (Children) will work closely with Named Safeguarding Professionals and multi‑professional clinical teams to ensure that the Trust's statutory responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children are met.

Candidates are required to show evidence of their original certificates for qualifications to the interview panel.

Main duties of the job

Safeguarding at Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust encompasses, promoting the welfare of children/young people and adults considerate of a Think Family approach to protect from harm. The post holder will be expected to demonstrate a sound understanding of the issues relating to children, young people, and families within a safeguarding context.

Working closely with Named Safeguarding Professionals and multi‑professional clinical teams to ensure that the Trust's statutory responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people, adults and their families are met.

About us

Choose Well – Choose WWL

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that 'happy staff, makes for happy patients'. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement and living our values.

WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. With this in mind, we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.

Job responsibilities

• To work with all staff to provide support, advice and expert guidance to assist in exercising duties and responsibilities for safeguarding of children, young people, adults and their families
• To deputise for Named Safeguarding Professionals within the WWL Think Family Safeguarding Team
• To be a competent, knowledgeable, and visible practitioner, ensuring the provision of a high‑quality Think Family Safeguarding Service.
• Assess, implement, plan, and evaluate care and interventions for service users with complex safeguarding needs.
• To complete safeguarding audits as per the Think Family Safeguarding Audit calendar.
• Maintain and develop own levels of specialist knowledge and skills in relation to safeguarding and clinical practice. To access regular clinical supervision for own personal and professional development, whilst ensuring participation with management supervision and annual performance reviews.
• Work collaboratively as part of the WWL Think Family Safeguarding Service, in the continued progression and development of such ensuring delivery of the Think Family Safeguarding Strategy.
• Referral of safeguarding concerns as per statutory processes, local and internal policy, and procedure, to ensure coordinated approach in meeting the needs of service users who are at risk of/suffering abuse and/or neglect.
• Work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies to ensure children, young people, adults and their families needs are met.
• To escalate safeguarding concerns, internally and externally as per local, regional and National directives.
• To assist with the development, implementation and evaluation of action plans and recommendations of lessons learned from Children Safeguarding Practice reviews, Safeguarding Adult Reviews, brief learning reviews and Domestic Homicide reviews. Ensuring timely and regular review of such to provide assurance.
• To support managers and staff in the delivery of high‑quality care throughout the journey of the child, young person, adult, and families (particularly with respect to robust discharge planning) by promoting innovative and progressive attitude to the continual improvement of safeguarding practice.
• Provide safeguarding supervision and case management guidance, inclusive of supporting staff to professionally challenge, where safeguarding concerns have not been adequately addressed. To identify emerging themes and inform future training and support needs.
• Facilitate good standards of record keeping, report and statement writing in line with NMC, other professional regulatory bodies and Trust guidelines.
• Attend as required all appropriate safeguarding meetings, to advocate on behalf of service users, acting as a support to staff or as a representative of the Trust.
• To promote a rights‑based approach in the safeguarding of service users and their families

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Current NMC Registration or relevant regulatory body
• Post registration education in Child Protection/Safeguarding children and/or adults' module at graduate level or willingness to undertake.
• Evidence of continued professional development and experiential learning
• Teaching/training qualification or equivalent experience
• Educated to degree level or equivalent knowledge and experience.
• Safeguarding Supervision qualification or willingness to undertake within 12 months.

Experience

• Recent and extensive experience relating to caring for children, young people, adults and families
• Experience of Safeguarding Children and/or Adults
• Experience of team working, multi‑agency working and ability to work co‑operatively.
• Clinical credibility demonstrated through experience in safeguarding children
• Experience of representing the organisation at safeguarding meetings
• Experience in providing safeguarding support and advice
• Experience of developing, implementing, delivering, and evaluating training
• Experience of key elements of change management
• Experience of undertaking audits
• Experience of report writing
• Experience of working within an Acute/Community Health Care Setting
• Experience of research activity
• Experience of contributing to local Safeguarding Children/Adult Board subgroups and associated work streams
• Experience of managing professional challenge

Skills and Knowledge

• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
• Excellent time management skills and the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Ability to work autonomously and effectively as part of team, with minimal supervision
• Ability to analyse and interpret data, information and situations - offering appropriate advice and guidance
• Excellent planning and organisational skills and ability to adjust plans to meet demands of service
• Demonstrate confidence in dealing with highly sensitive, emotive and emotionally challenging information and situations
• Computer literacy and ability to devise and maintain IT or paper based systems
• Excellent teaching and presentation skills
• Ability to manage personal stress and that of others in highly emotive and distressing circumstances
• Experience of policy development and/or implementation.
• In depth knowledge of trauma informed and responsive approaches when safeguarding children and adults.
• Knowledge of strategy, guidelines and policy development in relation to safeguarding
• Understanding of the impact domestic abuse, child/adult mental ill health, substance misuse and adverse childhood experiences.
• Knowledge of National, regional and local safeguarding policies and strategic safeguarding priorities.
• Comprehensive knowledge of legislation relating to Safeguarding Adults and/or Children and the implications for practice and governance arguments.
• Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the current issues affecting safeguarding and protecting children and adults in practice, including clinical effectiveness, evidence‑based practice and clinical governance
• Able to demonstrate an awareness of the complex issues when working across organisations and disciplines
• Ability to think widely and analyse problems and develop solutions

Additional

• Ability to work in an equal opportunity environment
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development
• Ability to respond quickly and effectively to an unpredictable workload within a highly stressful environment
• Reliability
• Willingness and ability to travel to meet the requirements of the role
• Flexible working to meet the needs of the service
• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation
• Flexible and motivated team player approach
• Experience of cascading information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Wrightington Wigan & Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Full-time,Part-time,Job share,Flexible working