Senior Safeguarding Practitioner (Midwifery Specialism)

Job summary
The Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner is a subject matter expert who provides specialist all-age advice and guidance to staff across NHS Bristol Group, in addition to a specialist area such as safeguarding adults, safeguarding children, and maternity safeguarding, and will be expected to provide safeguarding knowledge and expertise in demonstrating a sound understanding of the issues relating to identification, assessment, management and review of safeguarding vulnerable children and adults and have a knowledge of all age safeguarding frameworks. All roles will have a clear understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

This role will hold a maternity specialism and involves making operational decisions in all-age complex and challenging situations, ensuring adherence to the MCA, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), and best interest processes in addition to monitoring and improving standards of care through specialist safeguarding leadership, supervision, audit, evidence-based practice, training and the provision of safeguarding advice and support across all areas of safeguarding.

Main duties of the job
The practitioner will contribute to quality assurance, lead on safeguarding enquiries, provide training and supervision, and liaise with multi-agency partners. They will play a crucial role in maintaining accurate patient databases, developing policies, and promoting a culture of transparency and equality.

They will act as a role model, promote best practices, and contribute to the implementation of new regulations, and will deputise for the senior leaders in their absence.

The post holder will represent the safeguarding service at trustwide and external meetings and will assist in developing robust quality assurance systems to monitor and evaluate safeguarding practice across the trust.

The post holder will provide specialist knowledge and advice to all trust staff consistent with the requirements of safeguarding adults and children guidance, frameworks and legislation such as Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), The Care Act (2014) and Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework (NHSE 2024).

Day to day, they will provide operational support to the Named Safeguarding Professionals.

About us
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston.

With an annual turnover of 2.6 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom.

Chaired by Ingrid Barker and led by Maria Kane as Chief Executive, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust aims to transform the way healthcare is delivered locally with a clear focus on making a difference for what we call our Four Ps:

• Better outcomes for our Patients
• More opportunities for our People
• Fairer more consistent care for our Population
• Best Value for Public Purse

Our vision for five years from now:

• Patients will wait less time to be diagnosed and treated, and they will have the same high-quality experience and outcomes, regardless of who they are or where they live.
• We will meet rising demand by maximising the use of our available resources.
• More care will be delivered nearer to patients, in their homes or the community.
• Digital technologies will have transformed the way we work and the way we deliver care.
• Our people will feel engaged, energised and empowered by their work.
• We will be known as a place where people enjoy working, training and building a career.
• Our volume of globally renowned research and innovation will have grown significantly.
• We will contribute to system financial balance

Details
Date posted: 03 August 2026
Closing date: 13 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year, per annum, pro rata for part time roles
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 387-TS0906-HN
Job locations: Bristol NHS Foundation Trust Sites, Bristol & Weston, BS2 8EG, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Clinical Responsibilities:
Provide expert advice and guidance on safeguarding adults and safeguarding children, including unborn babies. Ensure adherence to MCA, DoLS, and best interest processes. Contribute to Section 42 and Section 47 safeguarding enquiries supporting across all ages. Support clinical staff in case conferences and enquiry meetings. Advise and support staff around patients and carers/families safeguarding issues. Ensure patients' legal and human rights are upheld. Act as a role model for ethical practice. Maintain accurate patient records. Liaise with and support the Emergency Department and all specialist trust areas regarding complex safeguarding. Provide expert advice on complex adult and children safeguarding cases Investigate allegations of abuse as directed by the statutory partnerships and Local Authority. Work alongside trust staff to develop processes that enable staff to protect individuals at risk Assist staff in undertaking their safeguarding role as appropriate, with an emphasis on staff development rather than the creation of dependency.

Knowledge and Skills:
Highly developed specialist knowledge underpinned by theory and experience. Ability to analyse and interpret complex safeguarding situations. Strong communication and relationship skills, including the ability to handle sensitive and contentious information. Proficiency in maintaining accurate patient records and databases. Knowledge of GDPR and Data Protection Act policies. Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams.

Communication Skills:
Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information to diverse audiences, where English may not be the first language or there may be hostility to the topic under discussion. Strong negotiation and influencing skills. Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Leadership and Management:
Line manage as required by senior leaders. Deputise for the Named Leads in their absence. Chair designated forums. Act as a source of support and expertise for safeguarding enquiries. Promote collaborative multi-disciplinary and multi-agency communication. Support staff in preparing reports and develop reports for the service as required by the named professionals and senior leaders. Provide support and supervision to staff involved in case conferences Act as specialist advisor to HR on disciplinary panels regarding safeguarding cases. Ensure action is taken in cases of professional misconduct from a safeguarding lens.

Education, Training, and Supervision:
Design and provide specialist safeguarding education and training to staff. Contribute to the safeguarding adults/children training strategy. Provide mentorship, coaching, and supervision to staff. Ensure staff are aware of and working within safeguarding legislation and policies.

Communication and Coordination:
Liaise with local Safeguarding Boards and external agencies. Maintain regular updates with designated local leads. Represent NHS Bristol Group at external partner agency meetings. Maintain effective communication links with multi-disciplinary groups. Maintain effective communications with external multi-agency partnership groups. Maintain effective communications with patients, carers, and relatives. Liaise with the Communications Department on press releases. In order to build upon the achievements of the service thus far, an emphasis is placed upon a team ethos of mutual support and joint decision-making through collaborative effort. The post holder will be expected to work as part of the team to cover the workload.

Audit, Monitoring, and Research:
Contribute to quality assurance and monitoring of the safeguarding service. Plans and conducts audits and impact assessments when required. Maintain and report on accurate patient databases. Contribute to the all-age Safeguarding Operational Committee by providing reports anddata analysis. Develop best practice using evidence-based practice and research. Contribute to the development of business cases

Quality Governance:
Work with the Deputy Director, Heads of Safeguarding and named professionals to review and interpret national and legal guidelines. Ensure Trust safeguarding policies and procedures are evaluated and updated. Contribute to risk management procedures. Adhere to GDPR and Data Protection Act policies. Contribute to service development.

Risk & Governance Management:
Be able to identify and advise on risk management procedures for patients at risk. Contribute & participate in quality assurance practices to ensure due diligence is followed, for regulatory purposes. Be aware of and adhere to all Trust policies and procedures, the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Data Protection Act. Maintain confidentiality at all times. Assess risk in multi-agency cases.

Person Specification
Education and qualifications
Essential

• Professional clinical registration such as NMC, SWE
• Degree level education supplemented by post-graduate diploma specialist training, experience, short courses, plus further specialist training to master's equivalent level.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Bristol NHS Foundation Trust Sites, Bristol & Weston, BS2 8EG, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Named Midwife for Safeguarding
Eleanor Richardson
View email address on meeveem.com
View phone number on meeveem.com