Associate Safeguarding Nurse
The closing date is 20 May 2026
This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated and enthusiastic nurse to gain experience of safeguarding children, vulnerable adults and/or children in care and work with a specialist team with a genuine commitment to promoting the welfare of children and young people.
The Associate Safeguarding Specialist Nurse is an integral member of the Safeguarding Team. Their role is to support the Safeguarding Nursing Team to fulfil the safeguarding obligations of the Trust to ensure safe and effective service provision for vulnerable children and adults in the delivery of high standards of holistic family centred care.
Main duties of the job
- To take a lead role in responding to MASH requests. This includes the collating and sharing of health information, reviewing the outcomes and appropriately documenting on the child's records
- To support the Specialist Safeguarding Nurses to provide safeguarding advice and group safeguarding supervision to colleagues across the Trust.
- To support the Safeguarding Trust to fulfil statutory safeguarding responsibilities.
- Help co‑ordinate safeguarding in a variety of settings, ensuring the high‑quality care provision to children and young people, using Trust Policies.
- To support in delivery of safeguarding training and the monitoring and reporting of compliance rates within the recognised reporting systems
- Offer advice and support to staff regarding their role in safeguarding.
- To maintain high standards of nursing care and to promote an environment suitable for the care of C&YP.
- To assess, plan, implement and evaluate family centred care without direct supervision.
- To be understanding and supportive to the needs of children and families accessing the service.
- Work without direct supervision using experience and knowledge to respond to external partners, sharing key information to support social care assessment and management of safeguarding risk including in to MASH and MACE forums
- Support the Named Nurse in developing a clear pathways when information is shared from MARAC.
- Assess and report risk to a senior member of the safeguarding team.
About us
The Rainbow Centre within Alder Hey is situated on the ground floor near the Emergency Department and provides a 'hub' for the co‑ordination of Safeguarding and Statutory Services.
We provide child protection medical examinations for children who have been physically harmed as well as a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) for children requiring forensic medical examination following sexual assault. We also provide Initial Health Assessments (IHAs), Adoption Medicals and provide the Medical Advisor role for Fostering and Adoption.
Alder Hey Children's Hospital has a large catchment area and provides secondary health care for the boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, and Sefton. It is also a tertiary referral centre for specialist services with a specialist Paediatric Intensive Care Unit which receives patients from the local and regional areas.
The team works closely with a range of specialities such as Burns and Plastics, Critical Care, Ophthalmology, Radiology, Major Trauma, and CAMHS colleagues in the management of some of the most complex child protection investigations within the country.
Job responsibilities
Communication
- To communicate sensitively and effectively with patients, families and professionals accessing the Safeguarding Service.
- To undertake liaison with other staff and partner agencies to ensure continuity of care and effective safeguarding is achieved.
- Demonstrate effective verbal and written communication skills, both detailed and legible.
- Always ensure patient and family/carer confidentiality in line with NMC guidelines with consideration to safeguarding protocol and policy.
- To participate in an effective communication system, this ensures that a team approach to family centred care is encouraged and adopted.
Analytical skills (detail below)
- Access records in line with agreed protocols and information sharing agreements within Alder Hey and ensure that all relevant information pertaining to care and treatment relevant to safeguarding investigations is shared in a timely manner with the requesting agency.
- Consider safeguarding risk and ensure that necessary risk assessment and management plans are available to the Safeguarding Team.
- Recognise when information shared with the Safeguarding Team should be made available to staff working with a child or young person and take steps to ensure this is communicated in a timely manner.
- Contribute if requested by senior safeguarding team to internal and external safeguarding meetings and be able to analyse information shared and consider safeguarding risk.
- As requested by senior safeguarding team formulate chronologies where safeguarding risk is being considered.
Planning and Organising Skills
- To contribute to the effective utilisation of resources and maintenance of adequate stock levels.
- Be a self-starter who can prioritise workload in an environment where re-evaluation of work is required throughout the day when multiple requests may be made.
- The post holder will work within defined practice boundaries under the delegation and supervision of the Associate Director and Named Nurse for Safeguarding.
- The post holder will ensure that they are competent. It is the post holders responsibility to identify any personal learning needs through continuing personal development, via their annual Personal Development Review (PDR).
Physical Skills
- To work within the confines of mandatory and statutory obligations, to the prevention and control of infection in the clinical area
Responsibility for Patient/Client Care
- Where appropriate be involved in complaints received in conjunction with the senior members of the Safeguarding Team and embedding subsequent learning.
- Assist Doctors within the Department and act as a chaperone as required.
- Promote and maintain a safe and comfortable therapeutic environment for patients and their families.
- Ensure the privacy and dignity of patients and their families is maintained.
- Ensure all religious and cultural beliefs are always respected.
Responsibility for Policy and Service Development
- Maintain relevant database systems and spreadsheets.
- Support the wider team in reviewing and updating policies and procedures.
- To ensure that all Trust policies and procedures are adhered to.
- Contribute to the development and review of evidence-based nursing practice policies and procedures.
Responsibility for Human Resources
- Directly supervise support workers within the Rainbow Centre as they undertake their clinical duties and step down to support within child protection medicals as required.
- Supervise the safeguarding support workers in the organisation of the clinic environment which includes cleanliness of the clinical area, and ensure equipment is available, clean and in working order as delegated by senior staff.
- The post holder will assist in the orientation, induction, and education of new staff.
- The post holder will ensure efficient and effective day to day oversight of the Rainbow Centre, including daily and weekly checks.
- Prepare for and attend at least quarterly safeguarding supervision facilitated by a member of the Safeguarding Team and engage in regular team reflective practice.
Responsibility for Information Resources
- The post holder will be directly responsible for the implementation and management of the safeguarding training strategy and in recording and reporting compliance levels within agreed reporting systems.
- Preparation of clinical reports and chronologies as directed by the senior members of the Safeguarding Team.
- Maintaining patient records that are always legible and accurate.
Responsibility for Research and Development
- To participate in incident reporting as required.
- To support and teach new members of staff and pre‑registration students.
- To participate in professional development programmes within the Safeguarding Service.
- To facilitate teaching in the Trust within own competencies and knowledge.
- Attending mandatory training days to keep updated with new research findings, PDR, and role expansion.
- Acknowledges any limitations of competence and comply with all professional and Trust rules, codes, policies, and procedures.
- To assist in setting and monitoring standards of patient care.
- Participate in audits, questionnaire development and focus groups that help to engage parents and carers and improve the quality of care provided
Education & Training
- Registered Children's Nurse (RCN/RN child)
- Current NMC registration
- Post Graduate qualification or evidence of further study relevant to the role
- Evidence of working with families where safeguarding concerns have been identified
- Substantial experience of multi‑agency working
- Extensive current/recent experience of working with children and their families in a health setting
- Demonstrates evidence of relevant continued professional development
- Demonstrates expert knowledge of local and national policy relating to the safeguarding and protecting children’s agenda
- Demonstrates expert interpersonal, communication and leadership skills.
- Basic understanding of forensics
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.
Address
The Rainbow Centre, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
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