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.
http://systems.hscic.gov.uk/cpis