One minute guide: Designated and named professionals for safeguarding and looked after children in health

Designated and named professionals in health

Designated and named professionals in health are qualified professionals with additional experience and post-graduate qualifications in child welfare, looked after children and safeguarding. They hold specific roles across the ‘health economy’ to ensure that children and young people are safeguarded in Leeds and the health needs of looked after children are met.

Designated professionals

Each ICB (Integrated Care Board) must have designated and named professionals including nurses and doctors, who as clinical experts and strategic leaders, hold statutory roles and lead on all aspects of the health service contribution to safeguarding children and looked after children’s health. They offer support to providers including primary care, and provide leadership, advice, support and supervision to named safeguarding and looked after children health professionals, social work, health commissioners, Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships (LSCP), Local Safeguarding Adult Boards, and NHS England. They provide advice to subcontracting agencies and independent and privately funded providers and establishments within the health economy.

Named professionals

Each NHS health provider must have a named nurse and named doctor for both safeguarding children and looked after children, and a named midwife for safeguarding children (if the agency provides midwifery services). These professionals must have the skills, knowledge and competencies to support all activities necessary to ensure that the organisation meets its responsibilities to safeguard and protect children and work to statutory guidance to meet the health of looked after children. Named professionals have a key role in promoting good professional practice within their organisation, providing advice and expertise, and ensuring safeguarding training is in place. They work closely with their organisation's safeguarding lead, designated professionals, the LSCP and other safeguarding professionals for example Children and Adult Social Workers and police colleagues.

Statutory guidance on safeguarding in health

How the health economy safeguards children is set out in statutory guidance:

• The Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework (2024) states that ICBs and all health providers must have effective arrangements in place to safeguard vulnerable children;
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (updated 2023) sets out the responsibilities of NHS agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of Health - through West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WYICB) Leeds place - are one of the three statutory safeguarding partners alongside the Local Authority and West Yorkshire Police.
• Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Well-being of Looked after Children (2015) describes the joint working responsibilities between health service providers, health commissioners and local authorities to promote positive outcomes for children who are looked

All of these guidance documents point to the importance of early help, establishing and maintaining relationships and working across agency boundaries to formulate a team around the child in order to improve outcomes for children.

Designated and named professionals in Leeds

WYICB Leeds place - is required to have: a Designated Doctor and Nurse for Safeguarding Children and Looked after Children; a Named GP; a Designated Doctor for Child Deaths; a Designated Doctor for Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood (SUDIC) and leads for safeguarding adults and for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). The ICB supports all practitioners working in Primary Care.

Primary Care - Each GP (general practitioner) practice has access to peer support from the GP Safeguarding Forum which is made up of safeguarding leads from GP practices across the city. GP practices should have a lead and deputy lead for safeguarding, who should work closely with Named GPs.

The Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children, the Designated Doctor for Child Deaths, the Designated Doctor and Nurse for Looked After Children and the Designated Doctor for SUDIC are commissioned through service specifications with Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH) – The Children Looked After and Safeguarding Team consists of: a Head of Safeguarding, a Named Doctor and Named Nurses, Specialist Nurse Advisors for Safeguarding Children, an MCA Lead, a Designated Doctor for Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Childhood, a Designated Doctor for Children Looked After and a Designated Nurse for Children Looked After.

Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust (LTHT) - The Safeguarding Children Team comprises: a Head of Safeguarding; an MCA Lead; Named Doctors; Named Nurses; Named Midwives; and Specialist Nurse Advisors.

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) - The Safeguarding Children Team comprises: a Head of Safeguarding; Named Doctor; Named Nurse; and Specialist Nurse Advisors.

When agencies might need to contact designated and named professionals in health

Designated and named nurses and doctors work closely together and with colleagues from other agencies. They contribute to Rapid Reviews, Child safeguarding practice reviews, and lessons learned reviews on behalf of their organisation, as set out in the Working Together (2023) statutory guidance.

The Designated Nurses and Doctors for Safeguarding Children support the concerns resolution process and attempt to resolve any professional disagreements between health practitioners and practitioners from other agencies in relation to concerns about the safety and welfare of a child or young person, or action being taken to safeguard a child or young person. They are also available to support practitioners from health and other agencies where there are signs of a ‘perplexing presentation’ or concerns of fabricated or induced illness by a child’s carer.

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