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Hello my name is Hilary Garratt. NHS England is delighted to be leading the implementation
of the Child Protection Information Sharing programme. This programme is really important
for us to be able to protect our most vulnerable children.
I think this is going to have a really good impact on relationships between social services.
Iím thinking about relationships between health organisations such as ourselves in
the emergency department, and thinking about relationships with social services. At the
moment I find that relationship is a little bit disengaged, out of necessity. Social workers
have a difficult job that they have to go out and do, it takes time, and we also have
a difficult job that we have to go out and do, and it takes time, so to sit down together
is difficult because it takes us away from the care that weíre supposed to be delivering.
Having this system will mean that weíre sharing information, it will be enlightening each
area about the work that weíre doing. Weíre going to be a lot more interested in each
other, we are probably going to talk to each other a lot more, weíll find some of these
barriers completely break down, and I think going forward weíre going to be much more
integrated as a unit, rather than separate silos working independently.
Meet George. Social services have had concerns about Georgeís mother and her ability to
care for him appropriately. Because of these concerns, George has a child protection plan
in place to help safeguard his wellbeing whilst remaining in the care of his mother. They
have just moved home and George is new at school. Whilst at school, Georgeís teacher,
Miss Jones, notices that a wound on Georgeís arm has got progressively worse over the past
week. George tells her he was bitten by a dog, and sheís concerned that the bite has
become badly infected. So Miss Jones tries to ring home to speak to his mother, but gets
no answer. So Miss Jones takes George to hospital to get the bite treated. Because of the Child
Protection Information Sharing System the clerk in reception informs the medical team
that George is on a child protection plan. Because George is new at the school, Miss
Jones has no idea that George is on a plan. The doctor is happy that the dog bite was
accidental, but because of the Child Protection Information Sharing System, he knows that
George is on a child protection plan. Heís concerned that no treatment has been sought,
and that the wound has become infected. The doctor rings the social care team from the
local authority where George used to live, whilst the nurse dresses the wound. He discovers
that the reason George is on a child protection plan is because of neglect. The social care
team are very worried about this scenario and recommend that George is not sent home
until a social worker arrives. George is collected by a social worker, who takes his prescription,
and takes George home. Theyíre alerted that things at home might be bad, and some kind
of intervention might be necessary. But what would have happened to George if the Child
Protection Information Sharing System was not installed at this hospital? Without the
Child Protection Information Sharing System, the medical team would have had no idea that
George was on a protection plan. The doctor could have dismissed any fears about why the
bite had become infected, as a one-off event, or oversight by Georgeís mum. The doctor
would have released George and the teacher would have sent him home. Without intervention
from the social care team, itís very likely that George would not have completed his course
of antibiotics, or gone back for a checkup, causing a potentially serious infection to
develop. Luckily for George, the social care team provided a valuable intervention at a
time when Georgeís mum was obviously unable to cope. The Child Protection Information
Sharing System not only provided a radically better clinical outcome, but also allowed
for an intervention from the social care team at a crucial time for George and his mum.
The information sharing allowed by the Child Protection Information Sharing System not
only saved George from a potentially serious medical situation, but alerted the social
care team. Without this, Georgeís neglect might have become even more serious.
If you think about A&E attendances, children will come to A&E for all sorts of reasons,
and some can be just routine. So if you donít have this background information, they will
be seen and sent home, and nobodyís any the wiser. You try to teach clinicians to be a
bit more curious when they come in, you know, but sometimes itís just routine stuff, so
you wonít expect them to twig that there is anything concerning. However some families
are quite obvious, when you see them in A&E, with the presenting complaints or the presenting
problem. Straight away clinicians will assess that there could be some underlying concerns
and will start asking questions. So if there is a flag there, straight away they donít
have to worry so much it because they know that somebody will have information about
that child, but if there is no flag then they will have to ask an awful lot of questions
and some parents are probably quite reluctant to tell you, so yes, it will definitely benefit.