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Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to appoint a Named Doctor for Children in Care (Looked After Children). The closing date is 14 October 2025. This postholder will hold the statutory role of Named Doctor for Children in Care on behalf of the Trust. Named Doctors promote good professional practice within their organisation, provide advice and expertise for fellow professionals, and ensure robust arrangements are in place. The role moves beyond generic care to a higher level of operational expertise achievable through extensive experience and a higher level of education.

The Named Doctor works in partnership with the Named Nurse for Safeguarding and Associate Director Safeguarding & Statutory Services to:

• Develop strong internal Children in Care policies, guidelines, and protocols.
• Ensure that Children in Care are reflected and considered across the organisation.
• Support the management and quality assurance of statutory health assessments.
• Improve the health outcomes for Children in Care and Care Leavers by working with the individual, their carers, the corporate family, and the wider community to affect change via innovative practice and collaborative working.
• Stimulate the awareness of the health needs of this client group, influencing policies that affect health and the facilitation of health enhancing activities.
• Effectively communicate Children in Care knowledge, research and findings from audits, challenge poor practice and address training/development opportunities.
• Facilitate and contribute to internal and multi-agency audits, and statutory inspections.
• Conduct Children in Care training needs analysis, and to commission, plan, design, deliver and evaluate single and inter-agency training and teaching for staff within the Trust.
• Support the delivery of Initial Health Assessment (IHA) clinics and work with the Named Nurse to ensure continuous quality improvement. Provide specialist advice and supervision to staff who have direct contact with Children in Care and Care Leavers.

As one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, Alder Hey treats a broad range of conditions. We operate from our main hospital site and provide paediatric services across community sites, with clinics in Merseyside, Cumbria, Shropshire, Wales and the Isle of Man. We also provide specialist inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs in our state-of-the-art facility. Our research portfolio leads in children’s medicines, infection and inflammation, oncology, and related fields. We work with the Innovation Hub to develop new products and technologies. We aim to treat every child as an individual, ensuring they feel happy, safe and confident as they play, learn and grow, and we support their families as well as the child.

Duties

• Support all activities necessary to ensure that the organisation meets its responsibilities for Children in Care and Care Leavers.
• Be responsible to and accountable within the managerial framework of the employing organisation.
• At all times, work as a member of the Statutory Services Team.

Leadership and Advisory Role

• Advise local police, children’s social care and other statutory and voluntary agencies on health matters with regard to Children in Care.
• Liaise closely with other specialist services such as CAMHS, sexual health, and services for disabled children.
• Support the Associate Director for Safeguarding and Statutory Services to advise the Trust Board on matters pertaining to Children in Care.
• Contribute to the planning and strategic organisation of Safeguarding and Statutory Services in respect of Children in Care.
• Work with other Named, Specialist and Designated Professionals to plan and develop the organisation’s strategy for services for Children in Care.
• Ensure advice is available to other professionals and services across the organisation on day-to-day issues about Children in Care and their families, including involvement in Fostering and Adoption Panels where required.

• When required undertake health assessments for Children in Care and provide written reports on the health of prospective carers as appropriate.
• Support and advise colleagues in the clinical assessment and care of children and young people, whilst being clear about others’ personal clinical professional accountability.
• Provide advice and signposting to other professionals about legal processes, key research, and policy documents.
• Lead and support the development of clinical pathways such as Blood Borne Virus and provide management and oversight where appropriate.
• In line with ISO 15189, all employees in forensic settings are required to provide a DNA sample as part of the Staff Elimination Database (SED) to remove their DNA from forensic samples; the Named Doctor for Children in Care would be required to provide a DNA sample.

• Work closely with other Named and Designated Professionals for Children in Care locally, regionally, and nationally; attend Clinical Support Networks on behalf of the Trust.
• Work in partnership with the Named Nurse for Children in Care.
• Work closely with the Associate Director for Safeguarding and Statutory Services and Named Professionals for Safeguarding.
• Liaise with professional leads from other agencies, such as education and Children’s Social Care.

• Engage in effective strategic planning of services for Children in Care with commissioners and the Designated Professionals for Children in Care.
• Identify and take responsibility for developing, implementing, and reviewing policies, procedures and quality standards that reflect statutory requirements and national guidance for Children in Care.
• Monitor trends, quality and appropriateness of referrals and identify gaps, duplications, and blockages to systems and take appropriate action.
• Attend strategy and planning meetings to provide expert assessment of health risk for Children in Care and ensure effective multi-agency working.
• Work effectively on an inter-professional and interagency basis.
• Identify unmet health needs/gaps in service provision and promote innovative service solutions.
• Ensure legal processes and requirements for Children in Care including aftercare are appropriately taken.
• Advise other agencies about the health management of Children in Care.
• Lead on investigations and significant incidents, including After Action Reviews, and support with statutory reviews such as Rapid Reviews, Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Safeguarding Adult Reviews, and Domestic Homicide Reviews.
• Apply lessons learnt from incidents, reviews and audits to improve practice.
• Participate in and chair multi-disciplinary meetings as required. See attached for a full Job Description.

• Full GMC registration
• On the GMC’s Specialist Register OR within six months of CCT at time of scheduled interview
• Valid Level 3 Safeguarding and Children in Care Training
• Valid BLS Training
• Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
• Hold consultant status or a senior post with equivalent training and experience
• Evidence of continuous personal/professional training relating to Children in Care
• MBA
• Valid APLS and NLS (this may be mandatory for some posts)

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.

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust