Safeguarding Service
The Safeguarding Service team is trained in all aspects of safeguarding and abuse and can provide advice, training and support to staff and independent contractors.
Our Safeguarding Statement is available in the compliance section of our website.
What are the categories of safeguarding/abuse?
The areas of safeguarding are currently broken down as follows:
- Safeguarding Children (Child Protection)
- Looked After Children (CLA)
- Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Criminal Exploitation (CE)
- Safeguarding Adults (Adult protection)
- Mental Capacity Act (MCA)
- Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
- Domestic Abuse (MARAC)
- Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage
- Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
- Multi agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA)
Safeguarding Children (Child Protection)
The Named Nurses, Safeguarding children provide training, advice, support and supervision regarding child protection issues.
Children Looked After / Looked After Children
The Children Looked After Nurses ensure that statutory requirements for children in care are met and work with health providers/partner agencies involved with Looked After Children to ensure appropriate information is shared between agencies.
Safeguarding Children flowcharts: What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused / neglected:
- Safeguarding Children Flowchart – Wirral
- Safeguarding Children Flowchart – Cheshire East
- Safeguarding Children flowchart – St Helens
- Safeguarding Children Flowchart – Knowsley
Safeguarding Team contacts
Knowsley
- [email protected]
- 0151 514 2658
Wirral
- [email protected]
- 0151 514 2280
St Helens
- [email protected]
- 0151 514 2658
Cheshire East
- [email protected]
- 0300 123 4808
Safeguarding Adults (Adult Protection) & Domestic Abuse
The Safeguarding Practitioner – Lead for Safeguarding Adults/Domestic Abuse provides advice, support and supervision regarding adult protection/domestic abuse issues.
Mental Capacity Act (MCA) & Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
The Safeguarding Practitioner – Lead for MCA/DoLS responds to the requirements laid out in the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The remit of the role is also to provide advice, training and support with regards to undertaking capacity assessments and MCA principles in relation to best interest treatment decisions.
MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements)
MAPPA is the mechanism by which all the relevant Criminal Justice and partner agencies come to together to manager high risk offenders – usually those who have committed violent or sexual offences.
Section 325 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 imposes a duty to co-operative with the MAPPA Responsible Authority (Police, Prisons and Probation) upon a number of authorities including Health.
A statutory duty was placed on all agencies to provide a ‘single point of contact’ (SPOC). For Wirral health agencies this role is undertaken by Wirral Community NHS Trust. The ‘single point of contact’ role ensures that information is shared when appropriate to ensure that public safety and also staff safety is maximised.
The Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership
The Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP) is a statutory agency established by the Children and Social Work Act 2017. The WSCP is a multi-agency partnership of organisations who agree to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Cheshire East Safeguarding Children’s Partnership
https://www.cescp.org.uk/homepage.aspx
Children Looked After Nurses
Who are we?
The Children Looked After (CLA) Nurses make sure that young people, 16-18 years old in care have their health needs met. We work with health providers/partner agencies involved with Children Looked After to ensure information is shared between agencies.
Our nurses have many years of experience of working with children and young people.The Children Looked After Team provides advice, support & training to those staff across the organisation whose work includes children/young people with looked after status.
What is our role?
We encourage and work in partnership with young people to help them make positive choices about their health and wellbeing.
What we do:
- introductory visits to each young person we work with
- health assessments every year for young people we work with
- attend Children Looked After reviews for young people with their consent
- offer advice and support about a range of health topics
- signpost young people to appropriate services eg Brook
- refer young people into service to improve their health eg stop smoking service
- offer health support and advice to foster carers and care home staff about the health of children and young people
- we can give young people any outstanding immunisations at home or placement
The service will always try to organise visits at a suitable place for the young person.
Confidentiality
Any discussions with the CLA Nurses are private and confidential. However, if a young person is being harmed, or their safety is at risk they have to share the information discussed with the young person’s social worker. This is to ensure the young person gets the help and support they need.
What happens when they reach 18 years old?
When young people in care reach 18 they are no longer a Child Looked After. The team will write to the young person with an up to date summary of their health needs.
This includes information about their immunisations, their NHS number and any health needs they have.
Who to contact if you have a concern about a child?
If you need to refer an urgent child protection matter for investigation then please contact the Integrated front Door at Wirral Council:
Tel: 0151 606 2008
e-mail: [email protected]
In the case of out of hours service contact Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 0151 677 6557.
Contact information
Children Looked After nurses can be contacted on 0151 514 2280.
Who to contact if you have a concern about a child
If you need to refer an urgent child protection matter for investigation then please contact the Integrated Front Door at Wirral Council:
Tel: 0151 606 2008
e-mail: [email protected]
In the case of out of hours service contact Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 0151 677 6557. See further information about the Emergency Duty Team out of hours service.
Safeguarding Adults information / transitioning from children’s to adult’s services
Who to contact if you have a concern about an adult
If you feel an adult at risk is unable to make decisions for themselves and is likely to remain at risk of abuse, or you yourself are being abused, you should contact the Central Advice and Duty Team (CADT) in confidence on:
- Tel: 0151 514 2222 – Option 3
- Opening hours: Monday- Friday, 9am to 5pm
If you need to call outside these hours then the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) is available Monday to Friday from 5pm to 9am. This includes weekends and bank holidays (including Christmas Day, New Years Day and Easter Sunday).
Tel: 0151 677 6557
For information regarding accessing Department of Adult Social Services and how it works with other agencies to safeguard adults please access the links below:
Cheshire East Council
St Helens Council
Knowsley Council
We will also share this information with the young person/adult’s GP and Social Worker and any other relevant professional.
This is to make the move from children’s into adult health services as smooth as possible.
Up to the young person’s 19th birthday the CLA Nurse will still be available to support as needed.
