Specialist Nurse for Looked After Children | East London NHS Foundation Trust

The appointee will be part of the Children in Care Team based at West Ham Lane Health Centre. As a Specialist Nurse the appointee will contribute to the team with additional knowledge, skill and experience in working with Looked After Children and be responsible for assessing and promoting wellbeing in the Looked After Child population. The appointee will undertake the statutory review health assessments in line with statutory guidance requirements. This will involve a detailed assessment of the emotional and physical health needs of Looked After Children, writing and implementing care plans, considering ethnic and cultural differences and providing age appropriate health promotion advice. They will act as an advocate to ensure health needs are met, negotiating with health providers within and outside East London NHS Foundation Trust making use of excellent interpersonal and management skills. They will develop programmes / pathways that support young people in care to make healthy lifestyle choices to reduce risk taking behaviours and optimise their health outcomes. Key Responsibilities Work closely within a multi‑agency context and with carers, regarding the health management of individual Looked After Children to deliver high quality services. The appointee will be required to travel to Looked After Children placed out of borough within a reasonable distance to undertake health assessments. To act as a resource providing expert health promotion advice to young people and support and advice to social workers, foster carers and residential workers and attend any Looked After Children’s Reviews as appropriate. Attend Looked After Children meetings / forums across the Borough as required to represent the Looked After Children Health Service. To contribute to monitoring the quality and effectiveness of services including audit and monitoring performance against national indicators and standards. Mission and Values Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations. Professional Responsibilities To act as an autonomous, registered practitioner who is legally and professionally accountable for their own unsupervised actions guided by the NMC professional code of conduct and Trust guidelines and protocols. To ensure practice is supported by research, evidence‑based practice, literature and peer review. To be responsible and accountable for service delivery to clients. Professional development to be gained through accredited courses, workshops, study and in‑house training programmes. Identify and refer any safeguarding issues relating to Looked After Children to the child/young person’s social worker, escalating as necessary if an appropriate response is not provided. Contribute to multi‑agency meetings or reviews as appropriate. To work with the Designated Nurse to address complex issues related to Looked After Children placed out of area. Be proactive in identifying the voice of the child and addressing any health issues and practice changes required to ensure children and young people’s experiences are of the highest quality and meet their needs regardless of age, ability, gender or culture. To actively engage in clinical governance activities to ensure safe and effective practice. To ensure that you continuously look for ways to improve the quality of the service or care you provide to clients or any other areas, where appropriate. To explore ways to involve and consult with clients and carers when developing or evaluating services or the care you provide. To develop and analyse audits, interpret data using findings to enhance clinical practice and outcomes for looked after children and young people. To comply with the procedure for handling any requests under the Freedom of Information Act thereby ensuring that they are dealt with in a timely, specific and confidential manner. Attending Trust Induction, mandatory training programmes and continuing professional development in line with Level 4 Looked After Children, Knowledge, skills and competences of the Intercollegiate Role Framework (2015). Able to communicate effectively with children and young people including those with complex needs e.g. language difficulties, learning and behavioural difficulties, and, where English is not their first language, use appropriate resources including interpreters to do so. Able to adapt and be sensitive and flexible to meet the particular needs of the child or young person in care. Able to teach both health staff and non‑health staff about the health needs of Looked After Children and provide training for individual children and their carers, social workers and educational establishments where a child/young person has a specific health need e.g. diabetes, asthma or disability to ensure optimum outcomes for the child/young person including the seamless transition of care leavers with complex needs to adult services. Understand the relevant aspects of the criminal justice system and be able to contribute to court reports for Care, Placement and Adoption Orders (and equivalent orders). Able to interpret national, regional and local policy documents/reports and their implications for Looked After Children’s health and service provision. Understand and be able to implement relevant child care legislation, information sharing, information governance, confidentiality and consent in relation to Looked After Children. Understand how birth family history, mental health and parental lifestyle choices impact on the child’s health and development and take this into account when completing and implementing the child/young person’s healthcare plan. Have knowledge of the common psychological and emotional disorders, as well as intellectual disability prevalent in looked after children and young people. Be aware of and able to identify the varying level of psychological distress frequently found in children and young people who are looked after and make appropriate referrals as and when necessary. This includes having knowledge and understanding of normal and disordered attachment, the lifelong impact of disordered attachment and the long‑term implications of becoming looked after. Knowledge of the needs of specific groups such as children and young people with disabilities, special educational needs, autism, unaccompanied asylum seekers, minority ethnic groups, children who go missing and those at risk of radicalisation, child sexual exploitation and FGM. Understand and be able to manage the complexity of healthcare provision and resources required to provide a comprehensive health service for Looked After Children. To manage changes in practice in line with national / local protocols, standards and pathways to enhance the quality of care. To maintain the high standards of the service by contributing to the Trust, service and individual team objectives. To be able to manage potentially stressful and upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner. To utilise analytical and judgement skills in the implementation of agreed protocols and pathways. To act as an advocate for the child/young person and their carer when they have difficulties accessing health services required by that young person. Advise other agencies about the health management of individual Looked After Children, interpreting and communicating on a broad range of health information in both a social and education context. #J-18808-Ljbffr