How serious case reviews inform practice?

Some of the results of serious case reviews show that there were no policies and procedures in place to safeguard children and staff or there was violation of policies which led to cause death or gave serious harm to children by abusing or neglecting them.

For example, there are a number of lessons to learn from the review of Vanessa George case who abused children under her care at Little Ted\’s nursery. Where some policies were not in place and others were not being followed.

Safeguarding Training: The staff working at little teds nursery had no safeguarding training. Venessa George used to share inappropriate pictures (pictures of sexual activities) with the other members of staff. If the members of staff had safeguarding training, they could have been able to blow the whistle against sexualised behaviour of Venessa George.

“Staff had attended no safeguarding training.\”  Nurseryworld,2017 This informs practice of early years settings by providing clear safeguarding training to the staff who work with children. This enables staff to identify the signs of abuse in children and make them aware of whistleblowing policy to protect children from harm and abuse and report the unacceptable behaviour. They should make a note of events of abuse happening to provide details to the DSP.
\”Similarly, there was no whistleblowing policy to support the reporting of K\’s escalating sexual behaviour within the workplace. \” Nurseryworld,2017

Safe Recruitment Policy:(DBS check)
The manager of the nursery did not have any safeguarding training. Venessa George was recruited without a clear DBS check because she was known to the manager.

Early years settings can make sure that they have safeguarding policies and procedures in place. They should follow the DBS check policy and safe recruitment policy when they hire new staff. They should check their DBS to make sure that they are safe to work with children and other members of staff.

“K had been recruited via ‘word of mouth\’ through the primary school, where the manager knew her in her school governor capacity. There are no records of an advertisement, formal interview or references for K\’s post, though there was a cleared CRB check.”  Nurseryworld,2017

Intimate Care Policy:

Venessa George was not following the Intimate care policy and she was changing children in the staff toilets.The other staff around her did not take any notice or action which gave her the freedom to abuse children. This teaches us the lesson that we should make sure that we follow the intimate care policy and take actions to report people who are not following the policies and procedures to keep children away from harm and abuse. In fact, in the months preceding her arrest, K had started to change children in a different toilet cubicle to that used by other staff. Nurseryworld,2017

Partnership With Parents:

Partnership working with staff and other agencies: Baby P case reviewL The NHS and social services staff did not take actions against non-accidental injuries of Baby P. They did see the injuries but they did not share this information with safeguarding agencies like Police and child protection services.

If they had raised their concerns, it was possible to save Baby P from getting more injuries and move him from his home. This informs our practice by making sure that we share our concerns with the safeguarding agencies and the appointed members of staff. We should not ignore when children come to the nursery with injuries on their body. It is possible that the injuries are accidental but there is also possibility that children have been abused and the injuries are non-accidental.

L Police did not investigate the boyfriend of Baby P\’s mother who was living in the same house. If Police had investigated about him, they could have been able to know that he was not supposed to be there because he had been involved in the case of animal cruelty and abusing his grandmother. We should make sure that we clearly identify unsuitable people and report them before they cause any harm to someone. Baby P was register in child protection register for physical abuse and neglect.

A group meeting was called to share concerns about Baby P from different agencies point of view,such as Police,Social services,Nhs staff and lawers. No other agency accept social services attended that meeting. All the agencies were supposed to cooperate with each other and share their concerns and ideas with each other. It informs our practice by making sure that we attend the meetings regarding safeguardind issues in our settings for the sake of safety anf wellbeing of children.

Partnership Working With Parents:

L Social workers and NHS staff were aware of the non-accidental injuries but they did not insist Baby P\’s mother to give the explanation about the injuries. If they had asked for the explaination,the abuse could have been revealed. We should work in partnership with parents and make sure that we share the performance and behaviour of children and also all the concerns regarding their safety. If a child comes to the nursery with an injury every day that does not look accidental, we should not ignore this situation.

We should ask parents for the reason of the injury and also inform to the DSP of the setting. Discussing and getting information about any allergies that children have got which require extra care and sport is also very important . We should give same importance to partnership working with parents as partnership working with staff and other agencies. The case review of Baby P taught us the lesson that partnership working with staff and other agencies is very important and crucial to keep children safe.

We should also communicate with the parents of children and share our concerns, if we see any signs of abuse or neglect. How current legislation and guidelines for safeguarding inform policy and procedure? Partnership working with staff and other agencies: Children Act 2004 The purpose of this act was to keep children safe in their environment and allow them to be happy and healthy. This act provides policies and legislations to agencies to share information with other organisations to protect children and keep them away from harm and take actions if the misconduct of the guardian has been found.

Safe Recruitment Policy: Nurseries follow safe recruitment policy to make sure that children stay safe in their care. They do this by checking a clear DBS before appointing for the job. Confidentiality Policy: According to this policy, nurseries keep the records of children and other members of staff confidential. They share information on ‘need to know’basis. Nurseries can share personal information with other agencies when they are concerned about the safety and welfare of children. (Abuse or neglect)

In nurseries, staff work in partnership and practitioners have got right to share their concerns regarding child abuse or neglect with the DSP. They can contact LADO to blow the whistle against members of staff. The DSP or the manager can contact, police, social services and Birmingham safeguarding children board to get help for children who are getting abused. Policies and Procedures What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused 2015 It gives message to people who work with children and families in childcare settings, healthcare settings, schools and police department.

It gives information to be aware of signs, symptoms and indicators of child abuse and neglect and take actions when they are concerned. Child Protection Policy: In childcare settings child protection policy is in place to guide practitioners and other members of staff to be able to identify the signs of abuse and neglect in children and take actions to protect them. Whistleblowing Policy: In nurseries, Practitioners follow the whistleblowing policy to raise their concerns about signs of child abuse and neglect and to blow the whistle against other members of staff who are abusing children to the DSP.

Partnership Working With Parents: Partnership with Parents Policy This policy is in place in nurseries which allow the members of staff to communicate with parents. Practitioners can discuss about the activities that the child has done in class. They can discuss about issues that they have regarding the behaviour of children. They can get information about needs of children and how they can support them more efficiently. They can keep parents informed about the curriculum and activities going on in the setting.