Safeguarding Children Policy

Transcription

1 Safeguarding Children Policy DOCUMENT CONTROL Version: 11.1 Ratified by: Clinical Effectiveness Committee Date ratified: 7 May 2013 (amended ) Name of originator/author: Named Nurses Safeguarding Children Name of responsible Clinical Effectiveness Committee committee/individual: Date issued: 29 May 2013 Review date: May 2016 Target Audience All staff/volunteers

2 CONTENTS SECTION PAGE NO 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. PURPOSE 4 3. SCOPE 5 4. RESPONSIBILITIES, ACCOUNTABILITIES AND DUTIES Board of Directors Nominated Executive Director Deputy Director of Nursing 4.4 Head of Safeguarding & Standards Trust s Named Nurse & Named Doctor for Safeguarding Children Modern Matrons/Service/ Team Managers All Other Trust Employed Staff Trust Volunteers 6 5. PROCEDURE/IMPLEMENTATION Definitions related to Safeguarding Children & Child Protection The Principles of the Children Act Legal Duties under the Children Act Legal Duties under the Children Act Child Protection The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need And their Families (DoH 2000) Decision Tree Making a Referral to Local Authority Children Social Care 9 6. TRAINING IMPLICATIONS Managers responsibilities MONITORING ARRANGEMENTS EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT SCREENING Privacy, Dignity and Respect Mental Capacity Act LINKS TO ANY ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS REFERENCES APPENDICES 16 Appendix 1 Flow chart for referral to Local Authority Children and Young People s Services 16 Page 2 of 16

3 1. INTRODUCTION Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) identifies health professionals as being in a strong position to identify welfare needs or safeguarding concerns regarding children and young people, and where appropriate, provide support. This can include understanding risk factors, communicating with children and families, liaising with other agencies, assessing need and capacity and responding to those needs by contributing to multi-agency assessments and reviews. 1.1 The Safeguarding Children Policy will be reviewed three yearly and in accordance with any changes to: Legislation Good practice guidance Case law Significant incidents reported New developments Changes to organisational infrastructure Introduction of new systems and processes 1.2 The Safeguarding Children Policy is located on the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) intranet site. Public sector organisations have an overall duty to: Take all reasonable measures to ensure that they minimise risk of harm to Children Take appropriate action when there are child protection concerns, by working to agreed local policies and procedures, in full partnership with other agencies. Decisions regarding children in need, or at risk of harm, are often made in difficult circumstances and fine judgments are required about the weight and significance of information. Whilst Local Authority Children s Social Care (LACSC) have legal powers to protect children, government legislation and guidance directs all agencies to play their part in safeguarding children. This is set out in statutory guidance; Working Together to Safeguard Children a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (HM Gov 2013). The Children Acts 1989 and 2004 are the over-arching legislation concerning the welfare of children. These Acts support the Paramount Principle ; that is that the needs of the child come first. They place a duty on all staff/volunteers to consider children in the course of their work, even where their client group may be adult. This policy relates to the unborn child and children/young people up to their 18 th birthday. Key Principles as outlined in Working Together 2013 are: Safeguarding is everyone s responsibility Page 3 of 16

4 Everyone should work using a Child centred approach Everyone should Understand the needs and views of children. 2. PURPOSE The purpose of this policy is to set out the Trust s arrangements for, and approach to, the safeguarding of children, and as such to support all Trust staff/volunteers, whatever their role in the organisation and whoever their client group is, in fulfilling their legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The policy conforms to the requirements of the following documents: Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Gov, 2013) Protecting Children & Young People: the responsibilities of all Doctors. (GMC, 2012) Record Keeping: guidance for nurses and midwives (NMC, 2010) What to do if you are worried a child is being abused (DfES, 2006) National Service Framework for children young people and maternity services. Standard 5 (DH, 2004) en/index.htm Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families (DoH, 2000) Doncaster LSCB Procedures Rotherham LSCB Procedures North Lincolnshire LSCB Procedureswww.northlincs.gov.uk North East Lincolnshire LSCB Procedures Manchester LSCB Procedures Page 4 of 16

5 3. SCOPE RDaSH is committed to ensuring that the arrangements for safeguarding children are embedded in clinical practice. This policy applies to all staff/volunteers directly working with children, young people and their families, and those staff/volunteers working with adult service users where safeguarding children issues are present. It also applies to staff/volunteers employed by the Trust whose own children may be the subject of safeguarding concerns. Adherence to this policy is the responsibility of all staff/volunteers employed by the Trust, including agency, locum and bank staff contracted by the Trust. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES, ACCOUNTABILITIES and DUTIES. 4.1 Board of Directors The Board of Directors delegates to the Chief Executive overall responsibility for the effective implementation of this policy, which in turn is delegated to the Executive Directors with responsibilities for clinical staff and volunteers, namely the Deputy Chief Executive (Nursing and Partnerships), Chief Operating Officer and Medical Director. 4.2 Nominated Executive Director The Nominated Executive Director is responsible for: Taking a professional lead in promoting best practice in Safeguarding Children at board level. The Nominated executive director for Safeguarding Children is the Deputy Chief Executive. 4.3 Deputy Director of Nursing The Deputy Director of Nursing is responsible for Taking the operational lead role within the Trust on safeguarding children. Chairing the Trust Safeguarding Forum. Representing the Trust on Local Safeguarding Children Boards. 4.4 Head of Safeguarding and Standards The Head of safeguarding and Standards is responsible for: Providing strategic and operational leadership for safeguarding and professional standards To ensure that all mandatory and statutory requirements around safeguarding are met and develop support systems. 4.5 Trust s Named Nurse and Named Doctor for Safeguarding Children Named Professionals are responsible for: Providing expert safeguarding and child protection knowledge, advice, training, supervision and support to practitioners across the Trust Page 5 of 16

6 Providing safeguarding leadership to all staff/volunteers within the organisation. It is the role of the Named Professional to advise senior staff of any issues which may impact of the Trust s compliance with Section 11 Children Act Named Professionals for safeguarding children, within a defined locality, act in accordance with the guidance set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Gov, 2013), and the Local Safeguarding Children Board s policies and procedures. 4.6 Modern Matrons/ Service/ Team Managers Modern Matrons/ Service/ Team Managers are responsible for: Making staff/volunteers aware of this policy and it s content Investigating any failure to comply with the policy and taking corrective action to prevent it happening again 4.7 All other Trust employed staff All other Trust employed staff are responsible for: Ensuring that they are appropriately trained to enable them to carry out their duties in accordance with this policy. Ensuring that they have up to date knowledge of legislation, policy and research to support them in their work. Decisions they make in the course of their work. 4.8 Trust Volunteers All Trust volunteers are responsible for: Engaging with Safeguarding Children induction and mandatory training Reading and adhering to all aspects of this policy Engaging with any support and supervision arrangements related to safeguarding children issues. 5. PROCEDURE/IMPLEMENTATION 5.1 Definitions related to Safeguarding Children and Child Protection The Children Act 1989 defines a child as someone who has not yet reached their eighteenth birthday. 5.2 The Principles of the Children Act 1989 are: The welfare of the child is paramount Children are generally best looked after by their own families The child and family s race, religion and culture must be taken into account Children have a right to be consulted about decisions affecting them Page 6 of 16

7 Children s wishes and feelings must be taken into account Delay in decision-making is harmful for children The 1989 Children Act also set out the definition of Parental Responsibility. This refers to the rights, duties, powers and responsibility which a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his or her property. It includes rights and duties with regard to education, choice of religion, administration of a child s property and choice of residence. It is important to note that all the provisions of the Children Act 1989 are subject to the guiding principle of the child s best interests and consequently the exercise of parental responsibility to limitations where disputes arise either between holders of parental responsibility or between parents and children. These rights exist in order to allow those with parental responsibility to exercise their duty of care towards their child. 5.3 Legal Duties under the Children Act 1989 Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on any NHS Trust (and other bodies) to help a local authority with its enquiries in cases where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, unless doing so would be unreasonable in all the circumstances of the case. Section 17 defines a Child in Need as one whose vulnerability is such that they are unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or that their health or development will be significantly impaired without the provision of services. (This includes those who are disabled). 5.4 Legal Duties under the Children Act 2004 Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a statutory duty on the Trust to make arrangements to ensure that it has regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in exercising its functions. Section 10 reinforces and updates the Trust s existing duty (under the Children Act 1989) to co-operate and share information with local authorities in order to improve children s well-being. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 states that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children means the process of: Protecting children from maltreatment (i.e. abuse or neglect) Preventing impairment of children s health and development Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care Page 7 of 16

8 Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes 5.5 Child Protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. The term child protection refers to the activity which is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm. 5.6 The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (DoH, 2000). This is a particularly useful tool in guiding assessments where there are concerns about the welfare of child/children. The diagram below is reproduced from the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (DoH, 2000). There are three inter-related domains, each of which has a number of critical dimensions. The tool reminds staff/volunteers to consider a number of dimensions while keeping the child at the centre of any assessment, so that the question is asked what does this mean for the child? (Working Together, HM Gov, 2013, pp20). Trust staff/volunteers should be familiar with the three domains in this triangle as they may be requested to provide information on any or all of these (depending on professional knowledge of the family). This information may inform an early help assessment, children/family Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and/or a referral to Local Authority Children and Young People s Services and/or a child protection conference. Page 8 of 16

9 5.7 Decision Tree This document aims to provide support and guidance to clinical staff across the Business Divisions to inform their decision making particularly where families may have additional needs such as mental health, learning disability or substance misuse and there are safeguarding concerns. Practitioners may be working with children and young people who are being, or have been abused or neglected, or with parents and siblings where the impact of their mental illness, learning disability or substance misuse is or may impair their or an associated child s health and development (including those unborn). 5.8 Making a Referral to Local Authority Children Social Care. By law, the only agencies authorised to investigate child protection concerns are Local Authority Children s Social Care (LACSC), the Police and in some areas the NSPCC. However, the Trust has a legal duty to refer concerns and to co-operate and share information with agencies investigating concerns. Where an assessment by a staff member indicates that a child may be in need (S17) (see 5.3) or in need of protection (S47) (see 5.3), it is the individual member of staff s responsibility to ensure that a referral is made in accordance with the Local Safeguarding Children Board s procedures (2.1). Referrals should be made initially by telephone to the relevant Team (see appendix 1 for contact details). This should be followed up in writing within 24 hours using the locally agreed format. A copy of the written confirmation must also be sent to the Named Nurse for the locality, and to the GP for the child/client. Within one working day LACSC should acknowledge receipt of referrals and inform the referrer of the next course of action; if this does not happen within three working days it is the responsibility of the referrer to contact LACSC to ascertain the outcome of the referral. Should staff/volunteers require advice or support at any stage of the referral process this can be sought from their line manager or the Named Nurse. The contact details for the Safeguarding Children Team can be found on the RDaSH intranet. Page 9 of 16

10 6 TRAINING IMPLICATIONS Safeguarding Children training is mandatory for all staff and volunteers, and individuals have a responsibility to keep themselves updated. To support both managers and individual staff and volunteers in identifying the level of training they require, a training matrix is available on the intranet and within the training plan It is important to state that this process should be supported with individual appraisal to identify specific or additional training needs. Staff/volunteers Groups requiring Training All Staff/volunteers (Level 1 training) How often should this be undertaken? On induction Safeguarding Children Policy Length of Delivery training method Part of safeguarding children induction MAST update Taught session Training delivered by whom Named Nurses for Safeguarding Children Where are the records of attendance held? Electronic staff/volunteers record system Level 2 training Three yearly updates ½ day Taught session or e learning package Named Nurses for Safeguarding Children Electronic staff/volunteers record system Level 3 training Three yearly update training 1 day Taught session Named Nurses for Safeguarding Children Electronic staff/volunteers record system Local Safeguarding Children Board Page 10 of 16

11 Yearly ½ day refresher Examples of updates may include: To be agreed with line manager Electronic staff/volunteers record system Reading safeguarding bulletins, National documents E-learning updates, Evidence of reflective practice/ approved safeguarding supervision. Cofacilitation of Safeguarding training. As a trust policy, all staff and volunteers need to be aware of the key points that the policy covers. Staff and volunteers will be made aware of this policy s content via any of the following: Safeguarding Children Bulletin Team Brief Weekly Bulletin Team Meetings Supervision Practice development days Induction 6.1 Managers Managers should ensure that practitioners working with children, young people and adults who are parents/carers are able to attend relevant Safeguarding Children courses or conferences covering particular areas of practice in order to maintain and develop their expertise in this area. Individuals should demonstrate their competencies within their every-day practice, and managers have a duty to consider Page 11 of 16

12 this area of practice on an individual basis through the relevant appraisal, supervision and performance process. Managers and Senior Managers are reminded of their responsibility to acquire the competencies laid out in Roles and Competencies for health care staff Intercollegiate document, September MONITORING AND REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS Area for monitoring How Frequency Who by Reported to Safeguarding practice and its compliance with procedure Assessments and risk assessments in relation to Trust and multi-agency standards Mandatory training compliance Audit Annual Deputy Director of Nursing Effectiveness Team Audit Annual Service Managers/Modern Matrons Audit Annual Mandatory Training Manager Safeguarding Forum Safeguarding Forum Safeguarding Forum Work plan undertaken by the Trust Safeguarding Forum Annual report Annual Deputy Director of Nursing Safeguarding Forum The Trust will also participate in multi-agency monitoring and audit activities as part of its membership of the Local Safeguarding Children Boards. Page 12 of 16

13 8. EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT SCREENING The completed Equality Impact Assessment for this Policy has been published on the Equality and Diversity webpage of the RDaSH website click here 8.1 Privacy, Dignity and Respect The NHS Constitution states that all patients should feel that their privacy and dignity are respected while they are in hospital. High Quality Care for All (2008), Lord Darzi s review of the NHS, identifies the need to organise care around the individual, not just clinically but in terms of dignity and respect. Indicate how this will be met No issues have been identified in relation to this policy. As a consequence the Trust is required to articulate its intent to deliver care with privacy and dignity that treats all patients with respect. Therefore, all procedural documents will be considered, if relevant, to reflect the requirement to treat everyone with privacy, dignity and respect, (when appropriate this should also include how same sex accommodation is provided). 8.2 Mental Capacity Act Central to any aspect of care delivered to adults and young people aged 16 years or over will be the consideration of the individuals capacity to participate in the decision making process. Consequently, no intervention should be carried out without either the individuals informed consent, or the powers included in a legal framework, or by order of the Court Indicate How This Will Be Achieved. All individuals involved in the implementation of this policy should do so in accordance with the Guiding Principles of the Mental Capacity Act (Section 1) Therefore, the Trust is required to make sure that all staff working with individuals who use our service are familiar with the provisions within the Mental Capacity Act. For this reason all procedural documents will be considered, if relevant to reflect the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that the interests of an individual whose capacity is in question can continue to make as many decisions for themselves as possible. Page 13 of 16

14 9. LINKS TO ANY ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS Clinical Policies Policy for children visiting in-patient and residential units within the Trust Clinical Risk Assessment and Management Policy Care Programme Approach Policy Policy for when adults disengage or who are at risk of disengaging from services and have parental/caring responsibilities/ access to children Policy for Children and Young People who do not attend appointments and/or disengage/are at risk of disengaging with services Safeguarding Adults Policy Safeguarding Children Supervision Policy Domestic Abuse policy Health Record keeping Standards and Health Record Management Guidance for Conducting Serious Case Reviews (SCR s) and Lessons Learnt Reviews Trust Policy for the provision of age appropriate environment and guidelines to inpatient staff on the care and treatment of patients under the age of 18 Managing and supporting transient families SOP A Clinical Decision Tree for sharing information across Adult and children and Young People s Services Employment Policies Policy and procedure for the management of disciplinary procedures Clinical and management supervision policy for clinical staff Disclosure of concerns in healthcare matters (Whistleblowing) Supporting staff involved in a traumatic/stressful incident, complaint or claim associated with employment Other Policies Policy for management of serious incidents (SIs) General Policy Incident Reporting Health and safety Prevent Strategy Implementation Policy Security Page 14 of 16

15 Information Sharing Policy Information Governance Mandatory Training Policy General Policy Volunteer s Policy Human Resource Policy Trust Training Matrix All the above policies can be found on the RDaSH Intranet. 10. REFERENCES Children Act (1989) London: Her Majesty s Stationery Office. Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families (2000) DoH Children Act (2004) London: Her Majesty s Stationery Office. DfES National Service Framework for children young people and maternity services Standard 5 (2004) DoH What to do if you are worried a child is being abused (2006) Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health: Safeguarding Children and Young People: roles and competencies for health care staff intercollegiate Document, September 2010 Record Keeping: guidance for nurses and midwives (2010) NMC Protecting Children & Young People: the responsibilities of all Doctors. (2012) GMC Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) HM Gov Doncaster LSCB Procedures Rotherham LSCB Procedures North Lincolnshire LSCB Procedureswww.northlincs.gov.uk North East Lincolnshire LSCB Procedures Manchester LSCB Procedures Page 15 of 16

16 11. APPENDICES Appendix 1 Flow chart for referral to Local Authority Children and Young People s Services NOTE: If you think a child is at risk of immediate harm at any time you can contact the police by calling 999. Member of staff has a concern that warrants a referral to Local Authority Children and Young People s Within office hours Telephone referral to local Duty Team Duty Team Numbers Doncaster Rotherham North Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire Manchester Follow up referral in writing to local duty team within 24 hours using locally agreed template / format retain a copy in client record * Copy to Locality Named Nurse Out of Hours Telephone referral to Emergency Duty Team (EDT) EDT numbers Doncaster Rotherham North Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire Manchester Emergency Duty Team (EDT) not available and /or concern is urgent i.e child at risk of immediate harm * Call the Police Contact Local Authority Children and Young People s Service s requesting the outcome of your referral if you have not been advised by them within 3 working days. Record the information given/discussed. Page 16 of 16