Child protection gap identified in a fifth of hospitals

The Back to Facing the Future report examined how well the UK’s hospitals were doing at meeting RCPCH standards for acute paediatric care.

It found that the majority of hospitals were performing well against the standards, with 77.4 per cent of children being seen by a consultant paediatrician within four hours of admission and 98.9 per cent of units having access to consultant paediatricians at all hours.

But the report also found gaps when it came to child protection as 17.5 per cent of hospitals did not have around-the-clock access to paediatricians with Level 3 safeguarding competencies.

This, the RCPCH report warned, “indicates that case decisions are being made either without appropriate paediatric involvement or are being delayed until the next working day, which could be compromising clinical care”.

The lack of paediatricians who can offer child protection advice was found to be a particular problem in Scotland, with three out of the seven units examined lacking consultants with the necessary training.

“This risks inappropriate decision-making and could have serious potential implications, such as children not being referred to social care where they are at risk of harm,” said the report.