Child protection will always be a difficult area for doctors, and we welcome any strategy to increase their ability and readiness to act on concerns.1
Doctors on the front-line of care play a key role in identifying signs of child abuse or neglect, and also have a broader responsibility for the health and welfare of the families they treat. As every practitioner knows, though, this is a delicate and sensitive area and there can be an understandable fear about ‘getting it wrong’ and damaging relationships with parents or even being the subject of a complaint. For these reasons and others, it is crucial that doctors have the confidence to raise concerns and feel they have the support to be able to act promptly and effectively.
To support doctors with these challenges, we published comprehensive new guidance in 2012.2 It includes advice on recording child protection concerns, working with families who need extra support, and approaching potentially distressing conversations with parents when there are concerns about the welfare of their child.
Doctors who take action will always be justified, if the concerns they have raised are honestly held and reasonable, and they have acted to protect children through the appropriate channels — and this will be justified even if it turns out that the child or young person is not at risk.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2014
