It is an essential requirement of any system designed to protect children from maltreatment that key professionals are able to recognise the signs of abuse and neglect and act accordingly. This is especially important in settings, such as hospital A&E departments and GP surgeries, where children and young people are likely to present with injuries.
It is a good example of how the Government has lost the plot that nearly 10 years after the death of Victoria Climbie a report finds that many key NHS staff have not been adequately trained to recognise maltreatment.
While the Government has played fast and loose with fanciful information-sharing ideas and surveillance technology (such as the Common Assessment Framework and ContactPoint) it has simply failed to ensure that key people are given key basic skills.
