The workforce issues in safeguarding services are often complex as they straddle health, social care and education services. The workforce Deanery is however committed to ensuring staff working in these services are well trained and developed to meet the considerable needs  and enable the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families. These projects have been developed to facilitate improved management around safeguarding issues across the West Midlands in line with recognised best practice and new statutory guidance from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

See the Resources for related Safeguarding Children documents

Completed and ongoing areas of work include;

Leadership

• Leadership for Influence: Safeguarding Children Practice Programme for designated and named professionals

• Leadership for Influence: Safeguarding Children Practice Programme for health visitors and school nurses (pilot)

Multi-agency Training

• Child Death review process for Clinicians and Local Safeguarding Children Boards

Increasing Medical Skills and up skilling the existing workforce

• Court skills training and mini-pupillage programme for Paediatricans

• Interpreting the physical signs of child sexual abuse (CSA) and coploscopy training for Paediatricans

• 3 day safeguarding course for Paediatricans

• The Safeguarding e-learning package

Developing New Roles

• The skills and competencies of the specialist nurse post in the child death fast response team

DH Training Audit

• Analysis of training audit to identify the safeguarding training programmes currently available to health staff in West Midlands organisations including gaps and recommendations for future workforce development.