General Practitioners, the Primary Health Care Team and Staff employed within Practices
The responsibilities of General Practitioners, the Primary Health Care team and staff employed within the practice are set out in paragraphs 2.74 to 2.83 of “Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006”.
The GMC guidance on 0 to 18 years can be accessed from their web site. An extract of responsibilities in child protection cases is filed in the Document Library.
Professionals working in this setting have key roles in the identification of children who may have been abused. They are also key in identifying when a child or their family need additional support which might be provided through a Team Around the Child (TAC) and must know how to engage with the Common Assessment Framework in order to identify the child’s needs.
GPs and other staff are also key in identifying situations where adult patients have problems which affect their capacity to parent their child or children and use the appropriate procedures. Staff need to be aware of the named professionals who can offer advice and be able to contact them.
Professionals will seek to provide relevant information to those making enquiries about a child’s welfare, or carrying out an assessment of their circumstances, and will ensure that information is given to Child Protection Conferences which is pertinent to the decision as to whether or not to formalise a child protection plan.
Local procedures for dealing with situations where there is a concern that a child may be at risk of significant harm are contained in "Managing Cases" within these procedures.
Attention of all staff is drawn to “Responding to Domestic Abuse: A Handbook for Health Professionals" (2005) details on: http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/66/19/04126619.pdf
All GPs, Primary Health Care Team and practice employed staff will be expected to undertake Child Protection training on a regular basis, approximately 3 yearly, to ensure that they are aware of how to refer cases to the Helpdesk (Tel: 01952385700) and who to contact as a named professional in NHS Telford and Wrekin.
Staff, other than professional medical staff, will make themselves familiar with "What to do if You're Worried a Child is Being Abused"