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Good morning, Duty Team, Paul Roberts speaking.
Good morning. I hope I'm through to the right department.
I wanted to make a referral to Children's Social Services.
Okay, you're through to the right person.
Let me start by taking your name.
It's Emily Jones. I'm a health visitor for the family.
I'm based at the health centre on the Northfield Estate.
Okay, and who's the referral about?
It's Waseem Akhtar. He's a two-year-old boy.
He lives with his parents, Mabina and Saleem Akhtar at 3 West Park.
Okay, then. What's the issue?
Well, I'm concerned he's being neglected.
He's constantly cooped up in the house with his mother.
He rarely seems to get out.
I'm just worried that he's spending a lot of his time in his bedroom
without age-appropriate stimulation.
As a result he seems to have delayed development,
particularly his speech.
Is he fit and well otherwise?
Yes, his physical health is okay.
He's well dressed, his weight is satisfactory.
But there are no toys in the house.
The house is sterile and... Well, it's difficult to explain, really.
The atmosphere just doesn't seem right for a child.
Well, it doesn't sound to me as if this child is at risk
of any kind of significant harm.
So what exactly are you expecting Social Services to do?
I'm not too sure.
I've tried to engage with Waseem's mum, Mabina,
but I'm just not getting anywhere.
I'm really not sure that you need to be speaking to us about this.
It would seem to me that Waseem's needs could be met
by some other group round there.
Maybe refer the family to a play group or something like that
but at this moment in time we're extremely busy
and Social Services is not perhaps the right agency
that they should actually be referred to.
With our now limited resources
we dont have the capacity to pick up every process reported.
I've had a check on the system.
I can't find that name anywhere at all on the system.
So it indicates that at no point in the past
has anybody referred Waseem to our services
for any child protection or any concerns whatsoever.
Sorry. There's nothing we can do.
Okay, I am sorry to bother you.
I will keep trying this end and get some support in place.
But please ring back if things deteriorate in the future.
Okay. Thanks anyway.