What is the Lead Practitioner?
Where a multi agency respone is idendified one practitioner takes a lead role to ensure that services are coordinated, coherent and achieve intended outcomes.
The Lead Practitioner functions are:
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To act as a single point of contact for the child or family
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To co-ordinate the delivery of actions agreed by involved practitioners
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To reduce overlap and inconsistency in the services received
Who should be the Lead Practitioner?
A number of factors must come in to play. The lead practitioner
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The lead practitioner could be drawn from any of the people currently involved with the child or young person, and could be from either the statutory or voluntary sector.
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The lead practitioner should be the practitioner who is most relevant to the child or young person’s action plan and who has the most appropriate skills.
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This is not necessarily the first person to be involved with the child or young person nor the practitioner who carries out the common assessment.
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Deciding who is to be the lead practitioner can be done most effectively as part of the assessment and planning process.
What are the benefits of having a Lead Practitioner?
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The child, young person or family have a single point of contact
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It provides a structure and co-ordination to a multi agency support package
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It reduces overlap and inconsistency in services received
Further guidance can be found in the Gateshead Protocol on: The Common Assessment Framework, Team Around the Family and the Role of the Lead Practitioner.