G153(P) Strategy discussion invitations to community paediatrics – a marker of the health of interagency working?. (12th March 2018) - Burton, A
Abstract : Aim: To analyse trends and any link between child protection medical assessments (CPMA) and strategy discussion invitations (SDI) within a community paediatric service. Background: Working Together to Safeguard Children 1 states that, 'whenever there is reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or is likely to suffer from harm, ' there should be a strategy discussion to share information and formulate a plan to safeguard the child with minimum attendees including a health representative. 1 Method: The number of non-accidental injury (NAI), child sexual abuse (CSA) and total CPMA and SDI in an inner London borough were collected from 2010 to 2017. Spearman's Rank Correlation was applied to NAI, CSA and total data to investigate any link between numbers of CPMA and SDI. Results: CPMA reduced from 212 to 144 (by 32%) and SDI from 204 to 31 (by 84.8%) despite the same criteria for assessment and attendance. Spearman's Rank Correlation coefficient for NAI CPMA/SDI was 0.5; a moderate correlation. The coefficient for both CSA and total CPMA/SDI was 0.84; very strong correlations. Conclusions: The Munro Review of Child Protection emphasised that, 'coordination and communication between professionals and agencies is crucial to success, ' 2 in safeguarding children. A decrease in strategy discussions may be multifactorial, including the development of HAVEN provision, but community paediatric discussion is important in ensuring optimal information sharing. A decline in the number of CPMA and SDI may reflect barriers in communication between agencies and this data has supported interagency training. The additional finding of a strong correlation between CPMA and SDI may not be causal but reflects general barriers in communication between Children's Social Care and Community Paediatrics. Both the decline in CPMA and SDI as well as the correlation in the trends, merit further evaluation locally and may be relevant for other child protection services. References: . Working Together to Safeguard Children. A guide to interagency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children March 2015. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/592101/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children_20170213.pdf [Accessed: 17/10/2017]. . Munroe E. Munro review of child protection: Final report. A Child-centred system May 2011. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175391/Munro-Review.pdf [Accessed: 17/10/2017].