Safeguarding Administration Coordinator and Minute Taker
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
The post holder will take a lead role in the co-ordination and arrangement of administrative functions relating to Safeguarding Adults. In particular, the post holder will be responsible for ensuring safeguarding meetings are arranged and that a safeguarding administrator is available to minute take at meetings. There will therefore be a supervisory responsibility towards other members of the safeguarding administration team in supporting these arrangements. The post holder will also be required to provide a wide range of administrative support for the Safeguarding Adults Team and Community Health and Social Care Teams in safeguarding administration. High levels of concentration and communication skills are required as well as use of initiative in problem solving. The post holder will be required to work across a number of locations within Torbay and be the primary person in arranging and minute taking at Whole Home/Large Scale Safeguarding Adult Meetings.
Main duties of the job
1. Provide formal and informal support and supervision to other Safeguarding Adult Team Administrators.
2. Take a lead role for the coordination of the Safeguarding MCA DOLS Administration team in ensuring safeguarding meetings are arranged and ensure there are minute takers available to support safeguarding meetings.
3. Escalate any concerns in meeting timescales to the appropriate Health and Social Care Lead and engage with the Lead to try and problem solve.
4. Take a lead role in ensuring recording systems within the safeguarding team meet data protection requirements.
5. Organise and minute take Whole Home / Large Scale Safeguarding Adults Meetings ensuring minutes are produced in a timely manner.
6. Minute take at safeguarding adult meetings and prepare minutes of meetings within 5 working days.
7. Promote effective working relationships between minute taker and chair for the team and the zones.
8. Provide mentoring and training support to all administrators who undertake safeguarding adults minute taking in producing clear and accurate minutes.
About us
The Safeguarding Team is an experienced multidisciplinary team consisting of nurses, social workers, and administrators who are passionate about protecting people from abuse, neglect, and human rights breaches. As a progressive team and a point of contact for raising concerns, we provide support, knowledge, and experience across a plethora of communities, multi-agency teams, and external partners.
The post of Safeguarding Administration Coordinator and Minute Taker is a vital role in ensuring the smooth coordination of the team and ensuring that day-to-day activity is allocated and organised. In addition to supervising the administrative team, the post holder will also support the role of Associate Director of Social Work and Professional Practice Head of Safeguarding Adults.
Job responsibilities
Communication and Working Relationships
1. Demonstrate effective communication skills and promote a positive image of the team with service users, carers, professionals, and external agencies from a variety of disciplines, both within and outside the Trust.
2. Communicate effectively with a range of people, either in person or on the telephone, promptly and in a professional and courteous manner whilst recognising barriers to communication.
3. Respond to frequent enquiries made by clients/staff, either in person or on the telephone, promptly and in a professional and courteous manner in line with Trust policy.
4. Any immediate concerns that cannot be resolved by the post holder will be reported immediately to the Safeguarding Adults Lead Practitioner.
5. Work competently within current procedures for own working practices and, where appropriate, contribute to the development and implementation of changes to improve own working practices/service, policies, procedures, and guidelines.
6. Ensuring that all communication is held using Information Governance Policy, maintaining confidentiality.
7. Contribute to the maintenance and accuracy of safeguarding adults / mental capacity information.
Planning and Organisational Skills
1. Ability to prioritise own workload.
2. Supporting team administrators in managing their workload.
3. Competent in handling queries and ever-changing demands.
4. Arrange core meetings such as Safeguarding Adult Improvement Group, Safeguarding Adult Forums; ensure room availability and invitations are sent, collation of attendees, administrate on the day, and produce certificates as required.
5. Able to plan ahead to ensure effective working and smooth processes.
Responsibility for Policy Implementation
1. Support Head of Safeguarding Adults in formatting relevant safeguarding MCA policies as needed.
Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources
1. Using Agresso to order and maintain stationary levels as required for the Safeguarding Team.
Responsibility for Supervision, Training, Leadership and Management
1. Attending regular supervision with line manager.
2. Take responsibility for own continuous learning and development, ensuring mandatory training is maintained and up to date.
3. Maintain and keep up to date records of Annual Leave and Flexible Working Charts, Training Records, Personal Files as per organisational policy and procedure.
4. Complete monthly Payroll Attendance sheets for the team prior to submission by the Safeguarding Adult Operational Lead.
5. Provide administrative support to the team in job interviews and support new staff within induction arrangements such as obtaining ID cards, mobile phones, having workstations to meet individual needs including health and safety, and access to Safeguarding Adults computer systems/email.
Information Technology and Administrative Duties
1. Use a variety of methods as required to take minutes in safeguarding meetings such as use of audio tool equipment and typing direct onto laptops.
2. Maintain Safeguarding adults pages on ICON, including Prevent and Modern Slavery pages ensuring information is kept up to date and accessible.
3. Raise Helpdesk tickets/log faults for self and colleagues when required.
4. Accurately produce minutes and correspondence from a variety of sources including material from audio or manuscripts within agreed timescales.
5. Take responsibility for ensuring that the Generic Safeguarding Adult Team Contact Number is answered and calls are signposted appropriately.
6. Use the patient records system to enter client-related information.
7. Retrieve and record patient information in line with service requirements.
8. Set up meeting rooms as required including equipment/refreshments.
9. Open (non-confidential), sort, log, distribute and prioritise incoming mail for the team using judgement and experience to decide where documents are passed.
Responsibility for Research and Development
1. Support team members with the development of systems as required.
2. Work alongside zones to develop a unified way of working and production of Safeguarding adults administrative document.
Person Specification
Application and Interview
* Knowledge of secretarial and the full range of administrative procedures and systems gained through training to NVQ level 3 or equivalent plus extensive practical experience.
* Use of Shorthand in minute taking.
* Experience of organising virtual team meetings.
* Understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
* Awareness of Chapter 14 of Care Act Statutory Guidance.
Knowledge and experience
* Proven ability to initiate administrative systems.
* Understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
Specific skills
* Minute taking at high level meetings.
* Experience of Safeguarding adults or children.
* Ability to prioritise work.
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.
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
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