Children in hospital should not be cared for on an adult ward and should be in facilities which are secure and regularly reviewed. The local authority where the hospital is located is responsible for the welfare of children being cared for within the hospital.
Hospitals are required to notify the local authority for the area in which the child ordinarily lives – or the area in which the hospital is situated if this is unclear – when a child has been, or will be, accommodated by the hospital for 3 months or more.
Children’s Social Care will assess the welfare of the child, if necessary, and keep it under review.
If:
- a child is an inpatient in hospital, and
- is known to Children’s Social Care and
- is subject to concerns about their welfare which have been communicated to the hospital staff by Children’s Social Care or vice versa
Children’s Social Care must establish that it is safe for the child to return home before the child is discharged from hospital. The assessment should include discussions with the medical staff and result in decisions being agreed with the consultant responsible for the child’s care in hospital which are then recorded. If necessary, a plan should be prepared to ensure the promotion and safeguarding of the child’s welfare.
When concerns about the deliberate harm of a child in hospital have been raised, a record must be kept in the case notes of all discussions about the child, including telephone conversations. When doctors and nurses are working in circumstances in which case notes are not available to them, a record of all discussions must be entered in the case notes at the earliest opportunity so that this becomes part of the child’s permanent health record.
All doctors involved in the care of a child about whom there are concerns about possible deliberate harm must inform Children’s Social Care of their concerns and provide Children’s Social Care with a written statement of their concerns. It is the doctor’s responsibility to ensure their concerns are clearly communicated in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Children’s Social Care will then respond to the concerns under the procedures for the management of individual cases.
If there is an allegation against a member of Hospital staff, the senior responsible officer should be informed, hospital internal processes commenced and the LADO informed.
