Worrying lack of NHS staff trained to protect children
The review was published in response to the tragic death of Baby P
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By Adam Leveridge. |  |
Thursday, 16, Jul 2009 12:05
A new report has highlighted a worrying lack of NHS staff trained to protect children in their care.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a review of child safeguarding in the NHS, commissioned by the health secretary in response to the tragic death of Baby P, now known as Peter.
The review has urged NHS trusts to respond to the horrific incident by delivering improvements in compliance with measures to safeguard children.
The survey of 392 trusts found the majority had the right measures in place to protect children under their care but there was a worrying lack of mandatory training amongst staff working designated to protect them.
The review also discovered a lack of clarity over the roles of doctors and nurses with specific responsibility for safeguarding, with some 30 per cent of the doctors having no contract or service-level agreement for safeguarding work.
It was also revealed some trusts lacked policies in key areas of child protection - for example, a third of acute trusts had no follow up process for children who miss outpatient appointments.
Cynthia Bower, CQC chief executive, said: "Immediately after the Baby P tragedy, everyone agreed that everything possible must be done to prevent a recurrence. This must not prove to be hollow rhetoric. The NHS has got to play its part by getting these safeguarding measures in place.
"It is clear that safeguarding has not been as high on the agenda of trust boards as it should have been. And that has meant, in some cases, that NHS staff have not been given the support they need in terms of training and clear procedures for handling concerns.
"If that were to change, it would be an appropriate legacy for Baby Peter. We will be using every tool at our disposal to make it happen."
The CQC has called on all trusts to monitor the training of their staff and ensure they are up-to-date with current safeguarding measures.
Baby Peter died in August 2007 after sustaining a catalogue of injuries at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger.