Safeguarding Children
The safeguarding of children is a professional duty of paramount importance. As dentists we are responsible for reporting and acting upon any safeguarding concerns that we may have.
This is reflected in the GDC Standards for the Dental Team which state:
8.5.1 ‘You must raise any concerns you may have about the possible abuse or neglect of children or vulnerable adults. You must know who to contact for further advice and how to refer concerns to an appropriate authority such as your local social services department.’
8.5.2 ‘You must find out about local procedures for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. You must follow these procedures if you suspect that a child or vulnerable adult might be at risk because of abuse or neglect.’
You can find a copy of their guidance document: ‘Guidance on child protection and vulnerable adults’ below.
The BDA have also released a comprehensive guidance document regarding safeguarding children. This is based on the 5 ‘R’s’ model of:
Responsibility
Recognising
Responding
Reorganising
Resources.
You find their complete guidance and further information on each of these by clicking on the link below.
The information is summarised in the BDA flowchart below:
As well as identifying general signs of neglect and abuse it is important to look out for signs of dental neglect. If you suspect this you need to consider whether this is wilful neglect and whether they fit into a wider pattern of neglect or abuse - i.e. is this a safeguarding concern.
Signs of dental neglect include but are not limited to:
Irregular attendance
High caries and infection rates
Child only presenting when in pain
Repeated GAs
Repeated failed appointments
Outstanding treatment not completed due to in-attendance
You can find out more about this from the ‘British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD): a policy document on dental neglect in children’ by clicking below:
You can find further guidance on safeguarding children and key pieces of legislation which relate to it below:
Every Child Matters 2003:
Children Act 2004:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/contents
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018:
Children and Social Work Act 2017:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/16/introduction/enacted
NICE Guidelines: Child maltreatment: when to suspect maltreatment in under 18s:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg89/chapter/Introduction