Referral In Health And Social Care

The 2nd Joint Chief Inspectors Report defined safeguarding children and young people as the act of taking reasonable measures to ensure that the threats of harm to children & young people’s welfare are diminished by all those who work with children. The document expressed that all agencies involve with the provision of services to children and young people should take appropriate actions to raise and address issues of concerns whilst working to agreed local policies and procedures established by Local Safeguarding Children Board, and in partnership with other local agencies to safeguard a child or young person. (CQC

There are many procedures, policies, legislations and statutory guidance to support the safety and welfare of children and young people. They have been developed over many years to recognise the rights of children and young people, protect vulnerable children and young people and after independent inquiries of fatal abuse cases, to recognise the failures of multi agencies and support services.

The report made 108 ‘sweeping recommendations’ (Laming, 2003) about modifications that were needed in the child protection system as a response to the errors made by professionals who had accountability for Victoria’s care. These involved the creation of a children and families board, a children’s commissioner, new local authorities management boards and the creation of a national children’s database. The thrust of the report was to address the integration of children’s services, bringing the relevant sections of the professional sector together to improve co-ordination and communication as that would directly lead to effective collaboration.

Allocates duties to local authorities, courts, parents and other agencies in the UK to ensure children are safeguarded and their welfare is promoted. It focuses on the idea that children are best cared for by their own families, however it also makes provisions for parents and families who do not cooperate with the professional bodies.

As there are a number of different agencies which may be involved when working in the context of safeguarding, it is important that they communicate and work in partnership to ensure the safety and protection of children. Each area of expertise may need to have an input in any one case and each should be considered when discussing issues around safeguarding. A working party or ‘team around the child’ meeting may be called involving a number of agencies in order to discuss how to move forward in the best interests of the child. Different organisations involved in safeguarding are: social services, the NSPCC, health visitors, GPs, the probation service, the police, schools, the psychology service. When it comes to safeguarding, children are best protected when professionals know what is required of them and how they work together. This means that everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe which involves identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. To carry this out effectively professionals need to work in partnership with each other.

You should discuss your concerns with your manager, a named or designated professional or a designated member of staff. Such as; school staff (both teaching and non-teaching), concerns should be reported via the schools’ or colleges’ designated safeguarding lead. The safeguarding lead will usually decide whether to make a referral to children’s social care; for early years practitioners, the Early Years Foundation Stage sets out that providers should ensure that they have a practitioner who is designated to take a lead responsibility for safeguarding children who should liaise with local statutory children’s services agencies. Child minder’s should take that responsibility themselves and should notify children’s social care (and, in emergencies, the police) if they have concerns about the safety or welfare of a child; for health practitioners, all providers of NHS funded health services should identify a named doctor and a named nurse (and a named midwife if the organisation provides maternity services) for safeguarding. GP practices should

In 2006 a revised version of this document provided an update on safeguarding and national framework to help agencies work individually and together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It also reflects changes to safeguarding practice in recent years, especially in the light of the Laming and Bichard Inquires, where these two cases made a number of key recommendations for improvements to services and the formation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

Self-referral is direct request by an individual for health care services for example, when an individual refers themselves to healthcare services for their wellbeing or support. An individual may refer themselves to a health professional or carer so that the individual is in control of their care, promoting self-management and health-focused behaviour. Also, a person may feel uncomfortable to seek help for their problem from non-professionals such as family or friends and may prefer to seek advice from a professional such as a nurse or doctor. In this case, self-referral does not apply to Ruth as she is unable to physically refer herself to any service as she is too young and cannot go anywhere by

Roles and responsibilities of the different organisations that may be involved when a child or young person has been abused or harmed: Children’s Social Care (act when concerns raised about a child, carry out assessment of child’s needs, interview child or young person and family, gather information from other agencies, lead Child Protection Conference, take action if child or young person in immediate danger);police (make decision about whether crime has been committed, take emergency action if child or young person is in immediate danger);health professionals, general practitioners, doctors in emergency departments (examine/observe a child or young person thought to be at risk of abuse or who has suffered abuse); health visitors; The

Decision made by an agency with Statutory Child Protection Powers (Police, LA or NSPCC) that emergency action may be necessary to safeguard child

They can investigate any inappropriate behaviour from the parent/ carer. When the child appears to be in danger, they would go to a child protection conference, which is a meeting with professionals and parents to make sure that the child/children are not at

Children Act 2004 section 11 states which professional and agencies have to safeguard and promote welfare. ‘’local authorities, councils, public health, NHS foundation and trust, Policing body, crime agency, college, and any person to the extent that he is providing services.’’ (Legislation.gov.uk)

Working together to safeguard children 2006 was a revised document which provided an update on safeguarding and the national framework to help services for children and agencies to work individually and also together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It was also further revised in 2010 and also applies to those working in education, health and social services as well as the police and the probation service. It is relevant to those working with children and their families in the statutory, independent and voluntary sectors. It is not necessary for all practitioners to read every part of Working Together to Safeguard Children in order to understand the principles and to perform their roles effectively. However, those who work regularly with children and young people and who may be asked to contribute to assessments of children and young people in need and should know the relevant sections of this document. The vetting and barring scheme was introduced in October 2009 with the aim of preventing unsuitable people from working with children and young people. It assured anybody working or volunteering with children would have to register with the independent safeguarding authority (ISA). The ISA will make the decision whether someone is suitable or not to work with children and young people, they base their decisions on information sources like a criminal record bureau checks which gives full record of the individual’s criminal record,

The following is an outline of current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation for safeguarding children

1. Referral – where the case of the family is presented to the concerned officials. The officials then assign a member of an agency or a social worker.