Lead professional
A lead professional is someone who takes the lead to coordinate provision for a child and their family, when a range of services are involved with that child or family and an integrated response is required.
The lead professional is not a job title or new role but a set of functions to be carried out as part of the delivery of effective integrated support. These functions are to:
-
act as a point of contact for the child or family, who they can trust and who can engage them in making choices, helping them to navigate their way through the system and effecting change
-
coordinate the delivery of the actions agreed by the practitioners involved, to ensure that children and families receive an effective service which is regularly reviewed. These actions will be based on the outcome of the common assessment framework
-
reduce overlap and inconsistency in the services received
Some examples of the tasks a lead professional may need to carry out to deliver the functions above include:
-
build a trusting relationship with the child and family to secure their involvement in the process, and as necessary act as an advocate for the family
-
be the single point of contact for the family and a sounding board for them to ask questions and discuss concerns. In some cases other practitioners will need to make direct contact with them, and it will be important for them to keep the lead professional informed of this
-
co-ordinate the effective delivery of a set of actions agreed by the practitioners involved
-
hold the overview of the child and family situation. Be the single point of contact for all practitioners to discuss emerging information on the child and to ensure that the child continues to access support
It is important to note that no one has to be the lead professional, although staff in some services such as SAFE regularly perform this function. In most cases a practitioner will likely undertake the lead professional role because they have already developed a relationship with the family and may already be informally performing this function on the child/young person or family’s behalf.
The lead professional will not replace the ongoing practitioner work with a child and family. Agreeing a plan of action outlining the services required for a child and their family places responsibility and expectations not only on the person designated as the lead professional but on every practitioner involved in supporting the child or family.