Safeguarding

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a statutory duty on key people and bodies to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Revised Statutory guidance on the duty was issued in April 2007.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 applies to a number of NHS organisations in England:

  • Strategic Health Authorities
  • Designated Special Health Authorities
  • Primary Care Trusts
  • NHS Trusts
  • NHS Foundation Trusts

NHS Standards

The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 places a duty on each NHS body ‘to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of health care provided by and for that body' (section 45) and gives the Secretary of State the power to set out standards 'to be taken into account by every English NHS body' in discharging that duty (s46).

The Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework for 2005-8, National Standards, Local Action16, set out the ‘core' and ‘developmental' standards for the NHS.

Core standard C2 is relevant to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It forms part of the ‘safety' domain and states, ‘Health care organisations protect children by following national child protection guidance within their own activities and in their dealings with other organisations'.

Health will need to address the following specific areas and further information can be found by following the links to the ECM website:

  • Working Together to Safeguard Children
    An updated version of this guidance was published in January 2007, which sets out how to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

  • Local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs)  
    Every local area now needs to have an LSCB in place. Guidance on local safeguarding children boards waspublished earlier in the year and now forms chapter 3 of Working Together to Safeguard Children.

  • Vetting and barring scheme
    Following the Bichard Inquiry Report, the DfES and DH are planning the introduction of a new system for vetting people whose jobs will bring them into contact with children and vulnerable adults.

Partners will also need to consider the statutory guidance on the role of the director of children's services and the lead member, as well as the rest of the interlocking Children Act guidance.

Sidebar

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Working Together to Safeguard Children sets out how individuals and organisations should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance has been updated since the previous version which was published in 1999. The new version reflects developments in legislation, policy and practice.

 

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Statutory Guidance

This guidance sets out these key arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It applies to all those key local people and bodies named under section 11(1) of the Children Act 2004. Part 1 of the guidance sets out the arrangements that are likely to be common to all or most of the agencies to which the duty applies. There will, however, be differences in how they are applied depending on the functions of each agency. Part 2 deals with implementation in each particular agency to which the section 11 duty applies.

 

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What to do if You're Worried a Child is Being Abused

This document provides best practice guidance for those who work with children in order to safeguard their welfare. It also contains an appendix to help practitioners with the legal issues affecting the sharing of information.

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Safeguarding Children from Abuse Linked to a Belief in Spirit Possession

This guidance provides advice to practitioners and managers to help them identify and deal with abuse that may be linked to a belief in spirit possession. The guidance is aimed at all agencies working with children.

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Last updated: 10 Oct 07