New Guidance on Working Together to Safeguard Children
New statutory guidance on multi-agency working to help, protect and promote the welfare of children was published on Friday, 15 December 2023.
Working Together 2023
Guidance on implementing Working Together 2023
Briefings will take place in the New Year for members of the Bury Safeguarding Children Partnership, and a project plan will be developed to support implementation of the new arrangements.
Learning events
MCA and Executive Function
The North West region MCA/DoLS group have facilitated a number of “lunch and learn” sessions to be delivered by Dr Anna Watkin, Consultant Psychiatrist, Neighbourhood Strategic Clinical Director Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FT. The session will be part of a focus on the Mental Capacity Act to improve confidence and competence across the workforce in applying the MCA to their working practice. Dr Watkin has kindly offered to support this work by delivering a quarterly lunch and learn session, details of future sessions will be shared nearer the time.
The first MCA session will take place on teams on 28/03/2024 at 1200.
To book a place either click on the link below, and add your name, email address and place of work to get a calendar invitation for the lunch and learn session.
Dr Anna Watkin (Old age psychiatrist and SCD NBCG) CWP (office365.com)
Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Training – Bury Early Attachment Service
2024 - Level 1 Perinatal and Parent Infant Mental Health Training
This training is for any professional who might come into contact with perinatal families and who wants a better understanding of perinatal mental health issues and the importance of the parent infant relationship. The training will support attendees to build knowledge around mental health and confidence in recognising parental and infant mental health difficulties & and give an overview of the Bury perinatal and parent infant mental health pathway and where to signpost for support.
Training dates:
17th January - 1-5pm - Redvales Childrens Centre
23rd April - 1-5pm - Redvales Childrens Centre
18th July - 1-5pm – The Jewel Centre – Prestwich
15th October 1-5pm - Redvales Childrens Centre
Level 2 Infant Mental Health Training
(For professionals who have completed L1 or pathway training)
* Please note this is a two day training event *
This training is for participants who have completed level 1 (or pathway) training and who might have a more specialist role working directly with parents and infants (0-2). This training will build on and develop a deeper theoretical understanding of infant mental health and develop skills in working to build the relationship with more complex presentations.
Please note the EAS training offer also includes IHV Perinatal 2 day training which replaces Level 1 training. There is also Infant Mental health training available for social workers which negates the need to attend either Level 1 or Level 2 training outlined above.
19th June and 3rd July 2024
or
20th Nov and 4th Dec 2024
The training will take place at 9.30am-4.30pm - Redvales Childrens Centre, 25 Dorset Drive, Bury, BL9 9DN
Contact the Early Attachment Service for more information or to book on:
pcn-tr.buryearlyattachmentservice@nhs.net
There have been several incidents in Bury where very young babies have suffered non- accidental injuries. Review of these cases has highlighted that the families involved may have benefitted from support from the Peri-Natal Mental Health Service/Bury Early Attachment Service. This training will help support practitioners to navigate pathways to support for families and will also equip them with the knowledge and confidence to consider and assess the relationships between parents and baby.
Safer sleep
A key priority identified for the safeguarding partnership is to embed the messages about safer sleeping, to reduce the risk of infant deaths. Our toolkit promotes the importance of safer sleep and can be used by professionals to support them having the right conversations at the right time with parents and carers to reduce risks.
We want Safer Sleeping to be everyone’s business and we’re asking all partners to deliver safer sleeping messages when working with families.
For more information see our Safer sleep webpage.
ICON week 2023
It's finally here! #ICONweek2023.
An exciting week of webinars includes speakers from the military, public health, probation services, health visiting, and paediatrics, as well as ICON parent ambassadors.
Visit ICON Cope - ICON Week 2023 for more details.
If you have a baby that cries a lot, it can be exhausting and lonely. You are not alone.
Crying is normal. It is not your fault. It's ok to take a time out when you feel overwhelmed.
Keep baby safe, keep yourself safe.
Abusive head trauma can occur in any environment when a parent or carer is on the edge due to infant crying.
Make sure anyone looking after your child knows the ICON principles. ICON Cope - Parents advice.
It’s tough when your baby won’t stop crying. You may worry something is wrong with your child, that you’ll lose your cool or that your parenting skills aren’t up to the job. But you can handle it.
- Take a break
- Ask for help
- Never shake your baby
There are lots of things you can do to help soothe your baby. Check out our top 5 tips to help with infant crying. The main thing to remember is to stay calm and never hurt or shake your baby.
- Talk calmly, hum or sing to your baby
- Let them hear repeating or soothing sounds (white noise)
- Hold them close. Skin to skin.
- Take baby for a walk outside
- Give them a warm bath
ICON - Babies Cry, You Can Cope programme supports parents and carers manage normal infant crying and to prevent abusive head trauma injuries to babies caused by shaking, also referred to as ‘shaken baby syndrome’.
ICON is an evidenced-based programme designed to help parents and carers understand the normal crying pattern of young infants and to help them develop successful coping mechanisms to deal with this.
The ICON programme delivers four simple messages before the birth and in the first few months of a baby’s life:
I - Infant crying is normal.
C - Comforting methods can help.
O - It’s OK to walk away.
N - Never, ever shake a baby.
These ICON messages have been demonstrated to help parents and carers manage the stresses which can be caused by normal infant crying. Midwives, Health Visitors and other professionals across the region have developed ICON expertise to help give parents and carers the tools they need to help keep their babies safe. It’s always OK to ask for help. If you are worried about a crying baby they should speak to:
- friends and family
- Health Visitor
- GP
- Midwife
- local children’s centre
Remember: Never, ever shake or hurt a baby. It can cause lasting brain damage and death.
More information and resources to support the ICON programme are available on the dedicated ICON Cope website.
#ICONcope #ICONweek2023
Upcoming Training, Resources & Events
IDAS.
The 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence starts on 25th November
IDAS are marking the 16 days of action from 25th November – 10th December by hosting a series of webinars, in addition to local events and activities. Please click the below links to access free events and resources for the 16 days of action.