Working Together or Pulling Apart? The National Health Service and Child Protection Networks

Child protection training for primary health care teams: making a difference?

“…Some Primary Health Care Team members such as health visitors are recognized in the literature as having a high level of input into child protection work (Lupton et al, 2001;Rouse, 2002); they have long been seen as having a key function (Cloke and Naish, 1992;Appleton, 1995;Birchall and Hallett, 1996), and in some cases a unique role (Dickens, 2001). Other professional groups identified by Polnay (2001) as having a role in the team child protection processes include reception 'Child protection training for many health professionals is likely to be of only a few hours' duration' 'Health professionals were more likely than any other group to have knowledge of the child' and administrative staff, midwives, district nurses, practice nurses and school nurses.…”

“…Polnay (2000), however, points to low attendance rates at case conferences and Bannon et al (2003) cite some of the many criticisms that have come their way, with under recognition and inefficient reporting, the latter being a phenomenon explored by Johnson (1993) and Van Haeringen et al (1998). Polnay (2001) suggests that a prerequisite for effective practice is effective communication with other members of the team, yet Lupton et al (2001) found that doctors saw their own role in child protection as being limited, and distinct from team-based approaches of other health professionals.…”

“…Lupton et al (2000) found GPs were unsure of their own role and Carter (1995) suggested many had ambivalent feelings about the validity of child protection procedures, an issue also raised by Lupton et al (2001), who suggest GPs may view these as unnecessarily adversarial for the family concerned. Carter and Bannon (2002) found that doctors are anxious about confidentiality issues, the legal implications of involvement in procedures and the sheer complexity of child abuse, and can be 'overwhelmed by the enormity' of child protection work (p. 16), while Nettleton (1992) identified stress and isolation in health visitors working in this area.…”

“…ealth professionals working in primary care have for some time been acknowledged as having a key role in child protection (Birchall and Hallett, 1995;Lupton et al, 2000Lupton et al, , 2001). Recent inquiries into child abuse deaths have reinforced this aspect of their remit (Hammond, 2001;Newham ACPC, 2002;Lord Laming, 2003) and the Scottish Executive (2002Executive ( , 2003a makes it clear that all health professionals in Scotland have responsibilities to follow agreed procedures and to share information appropriately.…”

Practitioner Buy-in and Resistance to E-Enabled Information Sharing Across Agencies

“…Formal mechanisms put in place by agencies at a strategic level do not necessarily produce the intended cooperation on the front-line (Lupton, 2001). This may be because workers in participating agencies are not fully aware of the needs, limitations and pressures of the others (Payne et a1 2002).…”