SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN NEWSLETTER

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1 SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN NEWSLETTER Spring/Summer 2016 Welcome to the spring/summer edition of the safeguarding children newsletter. Feedback on the content and items that you would like to see included in the future are welcome. Marcia Smikle, Head of Safeguarding Children Pleases remember to look at the safeguarding children page on the intranet: for more information. Welcome to Laura Stewart, Named Nurse- Training Lead who is based in the Safeguarding Office on Starlight Ward. The Homerton Safeguarding Children 16/17 work plan is based on the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Board priorities and will be reflected in safeguarding children training throughout the year: Early Help and Early Intervention Strong leadership, Strong Partnership Safeguarding in the context of technology and social media Strengthening oversight and safeguarding interventions across City s diverse communities (including focus on City s transient population) The local safeguarding context: Domestic Violence Mental health including adolescent mental health and substance misuse. PREVENT Child Sexual Exploitation Female genital mutilation Neglect and Missing Children Is this a safeguarding incident? A Safeguarding module is now available on Datix to improve the quality, reporting and follow up of safeguarding adult and children incidents. It was co-designed with staff who provide care for patients and clients and makes reporting safeguarding incidents and disclosures quick and easy.

2 The Goddard Inquiry In recent years high profile historic cases of child sexual abuse have dominated the news. Lord Justice Goddard has been appointed to lead an Inquiry into historic child sexual abuse. We have also seen an increase in the number of people disclosing historical child sexual abuse to clinicians and we are responding to this on a case by case basis? What does it mean for the Trust? All documents; child records (in and out patient): correspondence; notes; s: policies, minutes of meetings which contain or may contain content pertaining directly or indirectly to the sexual abuse of children or to child cannot be destroyed until advised otherwise. What does it mean for you? We need to demonstrate that we have a good safeguarding culture and when things go wrong that the lessons learnt improve practice. THINK THE UNTHINKABLE: A commonly held myth is that people in caring professions or positions of trust would not harm children and young people. Unfortunately this is not the case approximately 24 out of every 100 people convicted of child abuse were in a position of trust i.e. doctors, teachers, nursery workers, nurses, scout leaders, priests If you are concerned that a colleague may have: Harmed a child Committed a criminal offence against a child Is unsuitable to work with a child Speak to your line manager or a member of the safeguarding children team on: or A referral will be made to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and depending on the nature of the allegation the police maybe involved. Safeguarding Children Level 2 e-learning This e-learning safeguarding children training was launched in February It is aimed at all non-clinical and clinical staff that have any contact with children, young people and/or 2 P a g e

3 parents/carers. The e-learning is most suited for staff who are seeking to update their level 2 safeguarding children s training. The training provides information on many facts, figures and details surrounding the risk to children, the types of abuse suffered how to recognise the signs of abuse and key safeguarding legislations put in place to minimise the abuse of children. On completion of the e-learning staff will be better able to protect vulnerable children by recognising the signs of possible abuse and know the steps to should take if you suspect a child is at risk of harm. This e-learning safeguarding project has already had a significant impact on the current training programme by improving staff access to training and ensuring that they are up to date in issues surrounding safeguarding. Please see link below for the e-learning safeguarding children training: Care of Next Infant (CONI) Homerton is one of only a few trusts in London to deliver the Care of Next Infant (CONI) programme. The programme is aimed at parents who have lost a previous infant to Sudden Infant Death. The local CONI co-ordinator is Jessica Woods Paediatric Liaison Health Visitor. The programme is supported by the Lullaby Trust. In her CONI role Jessica will co-ordinate and implement a plan of care for parents that are having another child after a previous loss due to Sudden Infant Death (SIDS). This will involve ordering and maintaining stock of equipment and stationary, booking Paediatric Basic Life Support for parents and booking antenatal appointments with the Paediatrician to discuss the causes of the previous loss. Jessica will also visit the parents at home jointly with the family health visitor to introduce the stationary and discuss the use of apnoea monitors and support the health visitor and parents until the end of the families enrolment on the programme. Children usually remain on the programme until they are 6 months old or until 2 months after the date of the previous loss. Level of participation on the programme is led by the parents and they decide what level of input they want from the CONI programme. Parents are asked to sign a consent form to participate in the programme which allows the information gathered to be shared with the Lullaby Trust where the data is used to inform research around Sudden Infant Death and to make improvements to the CONI programme. Jessica has developed a training programme for Health Visitors and Midwives. The training dates are Friday 1 st July 2:30-4:30pm and Friday 7 th October 10:30-12:30pm. 3 P a g e

4 Lessons from Serious Case Reviews Local Learning When Children Suffer Harm Case E - Neglect Case K - Neglect Case FC Sexual Case H NAI Professionals being groomed by carers Males in household unknown Lack of professional curiosity and failure to challenge parents Not seeking and documenting the child s view Inadequate information sharing between multi-agency groups Lack of home visiting Failure to identify neglect Failure to escalate concerns Safeguarding Toolkit This toolkit which is available on the hospital intranet is a resource which has been created by the Homerton safeguarding children team. This is a resource for Homerton staff that are based in the urgent/acute care setting as a tool to assist them in their decision making when they are confronted with safeguarding concerns for children and young people. It can also be used as a teaching resource for students to teach them what they would have to do if they encounter these concerns. This toolkit has a list of safeguarding concerns with information including what are the risk factors for the child/young person, advise of other agencies such as children s social care who may need to be contacted and links to referral forms. With the toolkit being electronic, it is regularly updated with additional information and links to new services. The toolkit can be found on the safeguarding intranet page: 4 P a g e

5 Domestic Violence & Abuse Guidelines Domestic abuse is a significant and complex societal issue that impacts both adults and children and continues to remain responsible for at least 7 women per month killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales. On average a woman is a assaulted 35 times before making the first call to police and will have been subjected to at least 50 incidents before seeking effective help. (Safe Lives 2015) For some, domestic abuse is deeply embedded in family life which can mean that victims, perpetrators and children may not recognise or define themselves as experiencing domestic abuse. The revision of the Home Office definition of domestic abuse in March 2015 included years old. Domestic abuse is any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between intimate partners/family members regardless of gender or sexuality. Domestic abuse is not limited to but can be described as the following: Psychological Physical Sexual Financial Emotional 5 P a g e

6 From December 2015, coercive and controlling behaviour is now regarded as a criminal offence and sits within the Serious Crime Act, It can carry a custodial sentence of up to five years. In order to support Homerton staff with their work with domestic abuse, a Professional Policy in Domestic Abuse has been written and can be found on the intranet here: It is intended that the guidelines will support all staff in their day to day work that may come into contact with victims/ survivors of domestic abuse. In addition the guideline acknowledges that staff may be a victim of domestic abuse. There is sound advice on how managers can offer support and keep employees safe in the work place. Staff members who are victims of domestic abuse may find the guidelines resourceful as it too offers advice on safety and whom they may wish to confide in or receive support from. The Haven Camberwell Tel (020) Fax (020) Introduction The Havens are specialist centres in London for people who have been raped or sexually assaulted. CYP Havens represents an exciting expansion of service provision, aimed at providing an enhanced service for children and adolescents presenting after child sexual abuse or assault, and ensuring greater equity of provision with adult services. What will CYP Havens offer? The Children and Young Persons Havens Service, or CYP Havens for short, is based within a new purpose built and child-friendly centre at the Haven Camberwell (located within King s College Hospital). Although based at Haven Camberwell, it will continue to provide services across all three Haven sites: also Haven Paddington at St Mary s Hospital, and Haven Whitechapel near the Royal London Hospital. Who will CYP Havens see? The CYP Havens will continue to see all children and adolescents presenting with a sexual assault within the last seven days requiring a forensic medical examination. (The Forensic Window ). If the assault occurred just outside of seven days please speak to us to see if a Forensic Medical Examination is still appropriate. 6 P a g e

7 The CYP Havens will continue to see all adolescents (13-17 year olds) where the assault occurred within the past twelve months for medical and advocacy support. Additional clinical psychology brief intervention is now available to this group. The CYP Havens will also now be accessible to children aged 0-12 years presenting within 0-3 weeks of assault, for medical, advocacy and clinical psychology services. Should children and adolescents disclose child sexual assault or abuse outside of these timeframes, CYP Havens encourages professionals to contact the CYP Havens for consultation and sign-posting: particularly if they are experiencing difficulty accessing appropriate support. In certain circumstances, where accessing local appropriate services is not possible, CYP Havens will take a referral outside of the standard timeframes. How can I contact or refer to the service? CYP Havens can be contacted on Referrals can be made via telephone on the same number. There is no referral form to be completed. Contact the Safeguarding Children Team on the following numbers: Starlight Ward: Tel No: Defoe Building, Hackney Community College: Tel No: Secure huh-tr.chchildprotection@nhs.net Follow us on 7 P a g e