Safeguarding Adult and Mental Capacity Act Specialist

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated and experienced professional with an established interest in safeguarding adults to join our divisional team to provide specialist safeguarding adult and mental capacity advice across our Mental Health services in Brent and Harrow.

This is a London (Park Royal) based post. The successful applicant will be expected to carry out some face-to-face duties in outer London on a regular basis.

We are looking for a dynamic and engaged professional with excellent communication and leadership skills to deliver our safeguarding agenda across community and in-patient mental health services. The post holder should have knowledge of safeguarding adults and Mental Capacity Act processes and practices and must be able to represent the Division at all levels with regard to safeguarding adults and Mental Capacity Act practice and policy.

Jameson Division covers in-patient and community Mental Health services as well as Learning Disability services in Brent, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster. The position is based in the Park Royal Hospital, although it is expected the post holder will visit sites across the Jameson portfolio.

Main duties of the job

The overall purpose of this role is to ensure the Trust meets its organisational, national and local requirements and responsibilities in Safeguarding Adults, Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Prevent. This includes meeting the Safeguarding Standards under the Safe domain by the CQC. This will be achieved by providing specialist knowledge on adult safeguarding issues, MCA and Prevent. The Safeguarding and MCA Specialist will provide consultancy to staff at all levels within the Division and at times across the Trust, using expert evidence-based specialist safeguarding knowledge and skills.

The postholder will provide leadership and assurance across the field of adult safeguarding and will work closely with other specialists, named and designated professionals.

The postholder will lead on all activity in their identified locality/service areas required to ensure that the Directorate/areas of responsibility meet their safeguarding responsibilities so that Safeguarding Adults is seen as paramount and that a culture of dignity and safeguarding is embedded across the organisation in line with Making Safeguarding Personal.

Job responsibilities

• To provide clinical expertise within the Division/areas of responsibility, offering consultancy at Board and frontline practice level, on all aspects of safeguarding adults, the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Prevent issues.
• To be aware of enquiries into concerns regarding adult abuse under the Care Act (2014), ensuring staff are supported in managing concerns/enquiries applying expert knowledge and experience and demonstrate that all advice is underpinned by relevant theory and evidence-based research and in exceptional cases, undertake these enquiries and attend strategy meetings, where appropriate.
• Ensure each service has systems and processes in place to safeguard adults at risk (in line with the Care Act (2014)), working with partner agencies in line with Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) legislation and statutory guidance.
• Provide professional safeguarding leadership in situations which are complex, risky, uncertain, ambiguous or have conflicting professional opinions, ensuring adults at risk are protected from harm whilst respecting and protecting their human rights.
• Communicate a range of highly complex, sensitive and contentious topics to a range of professionals in varying situations.
• Analyse highly complex information and situations and provide judgements as to a range of options, deciding on best action to ensure the optimum outcome for the adults, their families and carers, supporting staff to make person-centred safety plans.
• Advise on Duty of Candour in safeguarding related incidents.
• Be involved in complex safeguarding enquiries and ensure any lessons learnt from SARs, DHRs and local Learning Reviews are shared with the SAMCAT group and are widely disseminated across the Division and Trust.
• To work closely with the Trusts Childrens Safeguarding Team/Named Professionals to develop best practice, for example, the Think Family approach, ensuring consistency of practice in relation to safeguarding across the organisation.
• To contribute to the Serious Case Review Panels or Learning Lesson Reviews and undertake an internal management review, when required, maintaining a log of Serious Adult Reviews (SARs), Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) and Maternal Death Reviews (MDRs) in the Division. Be an active member (when appropriate), at times taking the lead, in the implementation of complex case review recommendations.
• To raise with Senior Management any key risks, issues and concerns relating to safeguarding practice in your locality/service areas.
• To lead on the Prevent agenda within your locality/service areas by being the point of contact for the Police Counter Terrorism Policing Unit and Prevent colleagues, in relation to patients about whom they have concerns.
• To act as the local decision maker with regard to whether frontline professionals need to make a Prevent referral, in collaboration with the Trust Prevent Lead and senior colleagues when required.
• To design, develop and deliver training sessions on Safeguarding Adults, MCA and Prevent in line with the Intercollegiate Document on Safeguarding Roles and Responsibilities and Skills for Health, in line with the Trusts expectations.
• Tailor training to meet the needs of participants, seeking feedback and evaluation, ensuring staff can reflect their learning and understanding back. Reviewing and updating training packages as required.
• Participate in multi-agency research and evaluation, practice and service development.
• To lead on providing annual team based training supporting staff to ensure that all staff have the key skills and knowledge required based on expert, evidence-based best practice.
• To review Datix incident forms that reference safeguarding and make recommendations to the service on actions required.
• To support the Head of Safeguarding Adults in the review and development of policies that relate to safeguarding and MCA.
• To facilitate the provision of a helpful and respectful service to patients, relatives and carers by providing an accessible responsive point of reference in relation to safeguarding adults, MCA and DoLS, and Prevent, upholding the principles of the Care Act and Mental Capacity Act in all communications.
• To ensure that each relevant team area has a DoLS tracker and to be responsible for monitoring that this is kept up to date and in line with statutory duties. As part of meeting the Trust statutory duties, ensure that staff have the required knowledge and skills to maintain the DoLS trackers.
• To interpret national policy and guidance, case law or new legislation into local strategies and policies and take responsibility for updating own knowledge and keeping abreast of changes to practice through case law and legislative changes and take a lead to implement within the relevant Division.
• To have an in-depth knowledge of the relevant Multi-Agency Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures, Care Act statutory duties and other local NHS and Local Authority organisations Safeguarding Adults policies and procedures and promote understanding within the Division.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse/Social Worker/ Allied Health Professional
• Educated or working towards Degree level of expert practice.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development with relevant further qualifications.

Desirable

• Enquiry Officer and / or Safeguarding Adults Managers training
• Teaching Qualification

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of teaching others and evaluating learning
• Experience of working across professional and organisational boundaries
• Involvement in planning and delivery of training packages
• Experience of compiling and presenting reports for multi-agency and multi-level audiences
• Experience of the use of systems to report and review incidents
• Experience in undertaking clinical audit and Quality Improvement projects

Desirable

• Experience of staff management and supervision

Skills & knowledge

Essential

• Detailed expert knowledge of key statutory responsibilities and national policy relating to safeguarding, MCA and other relevant policies
• Ability to work in a person-centred way, demonstrating the principles underpinning safeguarding practice (MSP)
• Relevant knowledge of substance misuse, offender care, sexual health and/or community health, mental health, learning disability services (dependent on post applied to)
• Understanding of governance/risk and reporting systems and processes in organisational and multi-agency context
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills including the ability to give clear advice and guidance to staff, negotiate and resolve conflict, and the development of written guidelines and procedures
• Ability to be able to present information effectively in a format which is easily understood by a wide range of staff
• Ability to analyse and process complex information and conflicting priorities/opinions
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and to deal with conflicting demands

Employer details

Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Park Royal Hospital

Central Way

London

NW10 7NS

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

333-J-M-0208