Safeguarding Children
Subject Matter Expert: Dawn Oliver
Level 1:
All staff working in healthcare services
This is the minimum entry level for all staff working in healthcare services, including outsourced staff and private providers. Except for GP practice managers and reception staff who should be at level 2.
This level is equivalent to the core safeguarding/ child protection training across all organisations working with children and young people and is for all healthcare staff regardless of place of work. Empowering level 1 staff with the knowledge and skills has resulted in interactions which cause concern in waiting rooms or hospital corridors being highlighted and appropriate action being taken to safeguard and protect children and young people.
Level 1 staff groups
This includes, for example, laboratory staff, receptionists, administrative, caterers, domestic staff, transport staff, porters, community pharmacist counter staff and maintenance staff, including those non-clinical staff working for independent contractors (such as GPs, optometrists, contact lens and dispensing opticians, dentists and pharmacists) within the NHS, as well as volunteers across healthcare services.
Level 2:
Non-clinical and clinical staff who, in their role, have contact (however small) with children, young people and/or parents/carers or adults who may pose a risk to children ‘Member of the practice administrative team who, depending on size of practice and structure, either manages or oversees, the recording and coding of safeguarding information coming in and out of the practice e.g. safeguarding/child protection case conference reports, MARAC notifications, summarising safeguarding information in new patient records. The safeguarding administrator will work closely with the GP Practice Safeguarding Lead.’ The minimum level that should apply to pharmacists is level 2. Those pharmacists undertaking professional care activities and services in care homes, urgent and emergency care settings, GP practices and out of hours services require level 3 competency. lx This includes staff in non-patient facing roles – ambulance communication centre staff. lxi Except paramedics who are at level 3.
Level 2 Staff groups
This includes administrators and reception staff for looked after children and safeguarding teams, GP reception managers, GP practice safeguarding administrators, GP practice managers, clinic reception managers, healthcare students including medical, relevant allied health professional students and nursing students, patient advocates, phlebotomists, pharmacists, ambulance staff (paramedics require level 3), dentists, dental care professionals, audiologists, eye clinic liaison officers, optometrists, contact lens and dispensing opticians, adult physicians and surgeons, anaesthetists, radiologists, nurses working in adult acute/community services (except mental health nurse, practice nurses and nurse practitioners who require level 3), non-medical neurophysiologists, allied healthcare practitioners and all other adult orientated secondary care healthcare professionals, including technicians.
Level 3:
All clinical staff working with children, young people and/or their parents/carers and/or any adult who could pose a risk to children and who could potentially contribute to assessing, planning, intervening and/or evaluating the needs of a child or young person and/or parenting capacity (regardless of whether there have been previously identified child protection/safeguarding concerns or not)
Level 3 staff groups
This includes GPs, practice nurses (including nurse practitioners within primary care), forensic physicians, forensic nurses, paramedics, urgent and unscheduled care staff, all mental health staff (adult and child and adolescent mental health staff), child psychologists, child psychotherapists, adult learning disability staff, learning disability nurses (children and adult), specialist nurses for safeguarding, looked after children’s nurses, health professionals working in substance misuse services, youth offending team staff, paediatric allied health professionals/allied health professionals working with children, paediatric neurophysiologists, child play therapist/specialist, sexual health staff, school nurses including those working in independent schools, health visitors, family nurses (FNP), all children’s nurses, perinatal staff, midwives, obstetricians, neonatologists, all paediatricians, paediatric radiologists, diagnostic radiographers, paediatric surgeons, lead paediatric anaesthetists for safeguarding/level 3 anaesthetists, paediatric intensivists, physician’s assistants working in any level 3 speciality, pharmacists, specialist paediatric dentists, specialty and associate specialists (SAS) doctors working in any level 3 speciality listed above, and all doctors/health professionals working exclusively or predominantly with children and young people. It is expected that doctors in training (Including foundation level doctors) who have posts in these level 3-affiliated specialties/with significant children/young person contact, will also require level 3 training
