Safeguarding Children
Under Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), as major commissioners of local health services, should employ or have in place a contractual agreement to secure the expertise of Designated Professionals for Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children.
The Safeguarding Children Team provides safeguarding and child protection expertise and leadership throughout health and multiagency partnerships, through a multitude of roles and responsibilities which include:
- Being clinical advisors to the Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership, as an active member of a number of the sub groups and the Board, as well as through chairing the Health Leadership Sub Group.
- Working with clinical commissioners to ensure that effective quality assurance arrangements are in place to meet Health Service duties under the Children’s Acts 1989 and 2004.
- Providing advice to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) Chief Executive Designate, Clinical Chair and Director of Quality and Nursing about their responsibilities, to ensure that safeguarding children performance indicators are met.
- Holding providers to account, up to and including board level, to ensure that all staff know and understand their responsibilities for safeguarding children; and providing expert clinical advice on safeguarding children’s services.
- Co-ordinating the health component of Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (LCSPR’s) and working with partner agencies to compile the multi-agency overview and action plans that result from LCSPR’s.
Somerset LCSPR’s are published here: Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews – SSCP (safeguardingsomerset.org.uk)
Statutory Safeguarding Children Arrangements in Somerset
Revised Somerset safeguarding children arrangements replaced the existing Local Safeguarding Children Board in October 2019, as a result of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. The new Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership is coterminous with the local authority area.
The Safeguarding Children Partnership is led by the three lead safeguarding partners:
- Somerset Council
- Integrated Care Board (ICB)
- Avon and Somerset Constabulary
The Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership builds on a long history of partnership working in Somerset to promote the welfare of all Somerset children and to ensure that they are effectively safeguarded.
Each partner has a statutory leadership responsibility within the new arrangements, but all other agencies that work with children will continue to have a critical role in working with partner agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Here is the link to the Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership plan, published on the SSCB website: https://sscb.safeguardingsomerset.org.uk/about-us/
Child Death Arrangements in Somerset and Dorset
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 defines child death review partners as “local authorities and any ICB for the local area as set out in the Children Act 2004 (the Act), as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017”.
When a child dies, in any circumstances, it is important for parents and families to understand what has happened and whether there are any lessons to be learned. The responsibility for ensuring child death reviews are carried out is held by ‘child death review partners,’ as defined within Working Together 2018 and set out in current legislation. Child death review partners must make arrangements to review all deaths of children normally resident in the local area and, if they consider it appropriate, for any non-resident child who has died in their area. Child death review partners for two or more local authority areas may combine and agree that their areas be treated as a single area for the purpose of undertaking child death reviews. Child death review partners in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Dorset and Somerset now treat Pan Dorset and Somerset as a single area, resulting in a joint Pan Dorset and Somerset Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) undertaking child death reviews for Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Dorset and Somerset children. Below is the Memorandum of Understanding that the Child Death Partners have all signed, which outlines the new arrangements, along with a Terms of Reference. The new arrangement came into force in July 2019.
The accountable officials for the Child Death Review partners in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Dorset and Somerset are as follows:
| Name of Accountable Officer | Organisation |
| Jonathan Higman Chief Executive Designate | Somerset ICB |
| Duncan Sharkey, Chief Executive | Somerset Council |
| Tim Goodson, Accountable Chief Officer | Dorset ICB |
| Graham Farrant, Chief Executive | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council |
| Matt Prosser, Chief Executive | Dorset County Council |
Executive officers for all Child Death Review Partner agencies, with delegated authority from the accountable officers listed above, have signed the Memorandum of Understanding and approved the CDOP Terms of Reference.
The Designated Doctors for child death in Dorset and Somerset ICB are as follows:
| Name of Designated Doctor Child Death | Organisation |
| Dr Thomasina Nicole | Somerset ICB |
| Dr Christopher Knight | Somerset ICB |
| Dr Nicola Johnson | Somerset ICB |
| Dr Wendy D’Arrigo | Dorset ICB |
| Dr Ann Dewar | Dorset ICB |
Contacting our Safeguarding Children Team
Email: somicb.safeguardingandcla@nhs.net
Tel: 01935 381999
The team are contactable 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays).
The team provide advice and support to primary care staff in relation to safeguarding concerns they may have about a child / family, where they’re unclear what action to take to safeguard the child, or where they’ve completed a referral and need some support in escalating the response they’ve had.