Child protection gap identified in a fifth of hospitals
Tristan Donovan
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Almost one in five hospitals do not have a paediatrician with safeguarding training available around the clock, a Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) report has revealed.
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.
Dr Hilary Cass, president of the RCPCH, said: "While it is encouraging that the vast majority of units comply with the child protection standards required of them, a number must take further steps to improve their clinical care."
"It is essential that all paediatricians are trained to the level contained within the standard and that they are available and capable to advise on difficult cases at any time; day or night.
"Each unit has their own report and we will be following up with all of the units unable to meet the standard to help them improve."
The report also identified a shortage of paediatricians during evenings and weekends when patient demand was likely to be at its peak.
Only a fifth of units had a consultant paediatrician present on weekends and just 25.6 per cent had one during peak times on weekdays.
