Safeguarding Children – Level 3

Safeguarding children and young people from harm, and providing an environment in which children can flourish is a key societal value. Healthcare workers can be in an important position in helping to recognise child maltreatment.

This Safeguarding Children level 3 course provides clinical staff with an understanding of assessment, evaluations and interventions relating to safeguarding and child protection concerns.

Upon completion of this course, the learner will be able to:

• Explain how to utilise a child/family-focused approach to identify signs of child maltreatment.
• Explain the importance of early identification of risk factors in the lives of the parents and the children.
• Determine the appropriate level of support intervention case-by-case.
• Explain the principles of assessments and how these can be put into practice.
• Describe the common assessment framework and list its domains.
• Determine the appropriate level of information sharing case-by-case.
• Illustrate how information is shared, recorded and evidence is gathered, including chronologies and body maps.
• Explain how findings from forensic examinations are presented to meet clinical and legal requirements.
• Describe how to effectively contribute to multi-agency groups.
• Describe the issues surrounding misdiagnosis, uncertainty and risk.
• Explain how important communication with children is including helping them to participate in decisions.
• Describe the issues around working with uncooperative parents and families and how to overcome that.
• Explain how peer reviews and supervision can help provide support and expertise.
• Describe how to identify ways to improve future practice when an individual is seriously harmed/dies as a result of maltreatment.
• List the ways to escalate concerns

This course meets the outcomes for Core Skills Training Framework subject 9 Safeguarding Children, Level 3.

Subject 9: Safeguarding Children, Level 3

The learner will:

• be able to identify, drawing on professional and clinical expertise, possible signs of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse or neglect including domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, grooming and exploitation to support and/or commit acts of terrorism (known as radicalisation), FGM, modern slavery, gang and electronic media abuse using child and family-focused approach
• understand what constitutes child maltreatment including the effects of carer/parental behaviour on children and young people
• have an awareness or knowledge of, dependent on role, forensic procedures in child maltreatment, with specific requirements and depth of knowledge relating to role (e.g. where role involves/includes forensics teams/working alongside forensics teams)
• know how to undertake, where appropriate, a risk and harm assessment
• know how to communicate effectively with children and young people, and to know how to ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in decisions affecting them as appropriate to their age and ability
• know how to contribute to, and make considered judgements about how to act to safeguard/protect a child or young person, including escalation as part of this process
• know how to contribute to/formulate and communicate effective management plans for children and young people who have been maltreated within a multidisciplinary approach and as related to role
• understand the issues surrounding misdiagnosis in safeguarding/child protection
• know how to ensure the processes and legal requirements for looked after children, including after-care, are appropriately undertaken, where relevant to role
• know how to appropriately contribute to inter-agency assessments by gathering and sharing information, documenting concerns appropriately for safeguarding/child protection and legal purposes, seeking professional guidance in report writing where required
• know how to assess training requirements and contribute to departmental updates where relevant to role. This can be undertaken in various ways, such as through audit, case discussion, peer review, and supervision and as a component of refresher training
• know how to deliver and receive supervision within effective models of supervision and/or peer review as appropriate to role, and be able to recognise the potential personal impact of safeguarding/child protection work on professionals
• be able to identify risk to the unborn child in the antenatal period as appropriate to role
• know how to apply the lessons learnt from audit and serious case reviews/case management reviews/significant case reviews to improve practice
• know, as per role, how to advise others on appropriate information sharing
• know how to (where relevant to role) appropriately contribute to serious case reviews (in Wales child practice reviews)/domestic homicide reviews which include children/case management reviews/significant case reviews, and child death review processes, and seek appropriate advice and guidance for this role
• know how to obtain support and help in situations where there are problems requiring further expertise and experience
• know how to participate in and chair peer review and multidisciplinary meetings as required.