We’re continuing our spotlight on Safeguarding at Nottingham CityCare by introducing our team. Made up of Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Social Workers, Support Staff, and Administration Support, our Safeguarding team has a wealth of experience across children’s and adult safeguarding.
Elizabeth Richardson – Named Nurse and Head of Safeguarding
Elizabeth qualified as a Health Visitor in 2006 and enjoyed working with the challenging families the most. She built up good relationships with families and enjoyed the multi-agency working.
In 2009, she was seconded into a Safeguarding team and achieved her first Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children role three months later. Five years after being a Community Named Nurse, she joined a large acute hospital as a Named Nurse and a Team Leader the following year. This role strengthened Elizabeth’s adult safeguarding knowledge.
Elizabeth joined Nottingham CityCare in October 2023 as our Named Nurse and Head of Safeguarding. Elizabeth said:
“I love the multi-agency aspect of the job. Working with other professionals with the same focus and passion to keep children and adults safe gets me to work every day.”
Lou Rowley – Lead Practitioner for Safeguarding Adults and Mental Capacity Act (MCA)
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Lou qualified as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in 2003 and has worked with adults at risk for over 20 years. She has a strong background in forensic and older adult mental health, working in both Regional Secure Units and the community.
Lou says: “My passion for client centred care led to me qualifying as a Best Interests Assessor (BIA) in 2014. Although this is not typically a role associated with OTs, I believe the underlying philosophy and principles of OT and the skills that I have developed throughout my career fit well with those of the MCA, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and statutory adult safeguarding.”
Before Nottingham CityCare, Lou worked for Nottingham City Local Authority in the DoLS team, which developed her understanding of the relationship between health organisations and local authorities, enabled her to have a unique insight into how agencies work effectively together to ensure adults at risk are safeguarded and supported.
She also spent a lot of time training colleagues to work in accordance with the MCA as well as representing the Local Authority at the Court of Protection and supporting others to prepare statements ahead of submission to Court.
She is enthusiastic about staff development and bringing out the best in her colleagues. She enjoys promoting the MCA as an ‘empowering piece of legislation’ that encourages the autonomy and safeguarding of individuals’ human rights.
Outside of work, Lou is a proud mum of two who enjoys keeping fit and socialising with friends.
Jo Williams – Safeguarding Service Manager
Jo says that ‘since 2007, the role of the Safeguarding team has changed dramatically, with a greater focus across the whole service. I am passionate about all things safeguarding and enjoy that no day is the same.
“There is always new learning from both a local and national perspective and I relish the challenge this brings to ensure that our Safeguarding team are providing the support, advice and training to enable CityCare to provide effective Safeguarding for the residents of Nottingham City.”
Lisa Brister – Team Secretary
She started her career in family law and working in the external relations team of the University of Nottingham for many years. Throughout this time, she gained knowledge in business administration.
When she’s not working, Lisa likes to spend time with her family, walking, especially a hike in the Peak District.
Rachel Dykes – Team Administrator for the Safeguarding Service
Rachel says: “Working in such a great team has strengthened my knowledge and cemented my passion for safeguarding… I would very much like to further my career in this field.”
When not at work, Rachel enjoys walking her dogs, keeping fit, and listening to podcasts.
Karen Turton – Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Specialist
Karen has worked with children and families for 40 years, and has worked in our Safeguarding team since 2014, initially as a Safeguarding Practitioner.
Karen became a Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Specialist in 2019. Karen says: “I have always been passionate about supporting survivors of domestic abuse and became particularly interested in this area of practice during my social work training when I undertook a placement in a Women’s Refuge.
“I am committed to working with colleagues across the organisation to ensure survivors of domestic sexual violence and abuse receive high quality support that responds to their individual needs and circumstances.”
Rachel Norris – Safeguarding Service Manager for the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Health Team
Rachel is a children and families social worker and Practice Educator by background with experience in both Child Protecting and Looked After Children. Rachel says: “One of my favourite parts of the role is seeing practitioners’ confidence in their own safeguarding practice grow after accessing safeguarding advice and supervision.
“In MASH, we work closely with multi-agency partners to get to see the positive impact that information sharing has in getting children and families the support they need at the right time.”
Rachel Eltoft-Prest – Acting Safeguarding Service Manager (MASH)
Rachel has worked in our Safeguarding Team for three years, currently acting as Service Manager for maternity cover. Her usual role is Safeguarding Specialist Practitioner.
Rachel is a Registered Children’s Nurse and has worked in hospitals in the UK and overseas. She is also a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor). During this time, she developed a passion for safeguarding.
As a Nurse and Health Visitor, Rachel has worked with families for 20 years, not only to meet their health needs but to identify, address and overcome vulnerabilities.
Rachel says: “It gives me great pleasure to draw on this practical experience to be able to advise and support staff across Nottingham CityCare with their safeguarding concerns, and to be able to contribute to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the children, young people, and vulnerable adults of Nottingham.”
Tracy Ward-Price – Safeguarding Adults and MCA Practitioner
Tracy qualified as an Adult General Nurse in 1986, working in Adult Services until 2003. She has worked in hospitals in Sheffield and Nottingham before moving into community nursing in 1999. She was a pioneer for the Senior Staff Nurse role from 2000 to 2003.
In 2004, she qualified as a Health Visitor in Nottingham City, and went on to become a Specialist Health Visitor and Team Leader for the Vulnerable Children’s team. This team worked with people who are under-served or who often do not tend to engage with health and care services, including transient groups, homeless families and young offenders. She was previously the Public Health Development Lead in the 0-19 service.
Through her roles and experiences in hospital and community settings, she has gained a significant amount of safeguarding experience with both adults and children.
Tracy is also interested in staff development and staff support. With that in mind, Tracy says: “I am committed to ensuring my CityCare colleagues feel safe and supported when managing complex safeguarding concerns.’
Nicola – Safeguarding Practitioner
Nicola joined the organisation in 2015 as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor), prior to joining the Safeguarding team in 2021.
Nicola says: “What motivates my work in the safeguarding arena is a desire to effect positive change in the lives of those at risk of harm and a commitment to making our communities safer”
Date published: 8 February 2024
