Child Protection
NHS Lanarkshire is committed to continually improving its child protection arrangements to promote and protect the welfare of the children of Lanarkshire.
In doing so, it works closely with other organisations including North Lanarkshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and Strathclyde Police.
The NHS Lanarkshire Child Protection Team is led by the Nurse Consultant - Child Protection and Vulnerable Children. The team comprises of the Nurse Consultant, Child Protection Advisors, Administrative Personnel and Child Protection Paediatricians.
The nursing and administrative members of the team are based in Hamilton at the co-located office of the North & South Lanarkshire Child Protection Committees and Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
NHS Lanarkshire also has a Child Protection Link Nurse based in the Accident and Emergency Department in each of the three large acute hospitals (Monklands, Hairmyres and Wishaw General).
Other child protection measures in NHS Lanarkshire include:
- Child protection awareness session for all new staff at induction
- Comprehensive child protection training for health staff who work directly with children and families
- Implementation of the Scottish Executive’s Getting Our Priorities Right protocols (Good Practice Guidance for working with Children and Families affected by Substance Misuse)
- Commitment to the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) agenda (Scottish Government)
- An assessment framework to help identify vulnerable children
- Child protection supervision for Public Health Nurses (Health Visitors and School Nurses).
NHS Lanarkshire is a member of North Lanarkshire Child Protection Committee and South Lanarkshire Child Protection Committee.
If you are worried about potential child abuse or neglect, you can speak to a health visitor, nursery staff, teacher, family doctor, social worker, police officer or Children's Reporter.
Children and young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111 for free, 24-hour advice.
Useful Links:
The HandsOnScotland Website is an online resource for anybody working with children and young people. It is a one-stop shop for practical information and techniques on how to respond helpfully to children and young people's troubling behaviour, build up their self-esteem and promote their positive mental wellbeing.
For more information please visit the web site at www.handsonscotland.co.uk