Child protection workers urged to do more as CQC warns of many ‘suffering in silence’
Healthcare staff must listen to and do more to identify children at risk of harm, a report has warned.
There is a lack of consistency in services protecting and promoting health and welfare for children, the review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.
It recommended people in the health and social care sector should work with staff in education, the police and the justice system to effectively identify vulnerable children.
The CQC analysed 50 inspection reports written between September 2013 and December 2015 to compile its review, entitled Not Seen, Not Heard.
In a number of instances, the review covering looked-after children in England said, young people felt their voices were not being heard, leading to them feeling uninvolved and being subject to impersonal care plans.
The CQC also said services do not always share information with each other, leading to a delay in action being taken – and in some cases, nothing being done.
In almost one third of cases where a child was referred from an A&E department, the referrals were not considered effective.
While the review praised health professionals for improving the way risk is assessed, it said there is an “insufficient drive” in the healthcare system to look for those children who have not already been identified as being in need of help.
The CQC’s chief inspector of general practice, Professor Steve Field (pictured), said: “The number of children identified as having been abused or exploited is just the tip of the iceberg – many more are suffering in silence. As new risks emerge and more children are identified as being in need, it is more crucial than ever that staff across health and social care, education, the police and the justice system all work together.”
The independent healthcare watchdog’s chief executive David Behan said: “Children must be at the heart of how services are delivered, their needs must be seen and their voices heard. No child should be left behind.”
Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau, described the report’s findings as “deeply worrying”.
She said: “This report underlines yet again that the health needs of children in care are not being met and that the health providers that serve them do not always properly value children’s views and experiences.
“A substantial body of research confirms that looked-after children are often deprived of the good health enjoyed by their peers, so it is deeply worrying that these problems persist in many parts of the health service. The health and well being of looked-after children remains in jeopardy despite the evidence being very clear about what needs to change.”
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