Safeguarding

 

Introduction:

Clinical Commissioning Groups are statutory NHS bodies with a range of duties including safeguarding adults and children. As commissioners of local health service provision, Northumberland CCG needs to assure itself that local service providers have effective safeguarding arrangements in place. The CCG has a duty to support GP practices in their safeguarding duties.

The safeguarding team is part of the wider Quality and Safety Team, led by the Director of Nursing, Quality and Patient Safety to ensure that the CCG fulfils its statutory duties.

The designated professionals, both medical and nursing, are statutory posts and provide strategic leadership and expertise on behalf of the CCG to the health community of Northumberland, other agencies and the statutory safeguarding partnerships for both children and adults.

The Safeguarding Team comprises of:

  • Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children
  • Designated Doctor Safeguarding Children
  • Designated Nurse Looked After Children (LAC)
  • Designated Doctor LAC
  • Safeguarding Adults Lead (including MCA, DoLS and Prevent)
  • Named Nurse Primary Care (vulnerable people) – post to commence September 2019
  • Designated Doctor Child Death
  • Business Support Officer

The team are based within the CCG and can be contacted on 01670 335160

Safeguarding key responsibilities:

  • Providing expert advice and guidance to clinical colleagues in relation to the management of individual safeguarding concerns.
  • Providing health expertise on safeguarding issues to multi-agency partners
  • Ensuring the needs of Looked After Children are met
  • Leading the Child Death Review Process
  • Developing and facilitating single agency training for GP’s and relevant practice staff
  • Ensuring the CCG has policies and procedures in line with the multi-agency procedural frameworks.
  • Ensuring the CCG and commissioned health care providers discharge their responsibilities in relation to statutory reviews including Serious Case Reviews, Safeguarding Adult Reviews and Domestic Homicide Reviews.
  • Lead and develop multi agency working to ensure robust and effective safeguarding processes are maintained and to ensure an appropriate health contribution to multi-agency working across the Health and Social Care economy.
  • Represent the CCG and support the statutory Safeguarding Boards for both Children and Adults to undertake their statutory functions with the support of stakeholders and partners

New safeguarding arrangements for children:

Under new legislation the CCG along with the police and local authority will be equally responsible for delivering on the statutory duty to work together with relevant agencies for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children across Northumberland. The new arrangements must be published June 29th 2019 and implemented by September 29th 2019.