4/5/6 December 2023
onlineSpeakers
Start
December 4, 2023
End
December 6, 2023
Many professionals who work with children will at some point be required to make a preliminary judgement as to whether a mark or injury observed on, or reported by, a child could be non-accidental.
Law, and guidance from NICE, require that any injury which cannot reasonably be explained as accidental must be referred for medical examination. This usually happens via a referral from the first agency to children’s social services and, if concerns are substantiated, from there for paediatric medical examination.
However, neither law nor guidance can completely inform professionals how to make their judgement. The idea that “you can’t be too careful” coupled with fear of the professional consequences of missing an injury are clear motives to keep referring up the chain. The case of Baby P, for example, led to a significantly more risk-averse approach to child protection.
Yet decisions which are ultra-risk averse may not be good decisions either. The child protection system cannot be so over-loaded with low risk cases that there is insufficient resource to investigate high risk cases. For parents, the process following being suspected of harming their child is traumatic and can only be justified by significant concerns.
Training is widely provided on safeguarding, but professionals are often not offered training on the medical processes of causation and healing of injuries, the significance of position and patterns of injuries, and what other evidence they should be seeking to determine whether an injury could reasonably be accidental or not. Guidance does not cover these aspects.
Apparent injuries can also be mistaken for other medical disorders and it is vital that practitioners have an understanding of the common mistaken disorders that practitioners may come across in their practice.
How then do professionals ensure that children and young people are protected, while having the confidence to decide that there is insufficient evidence to refer some cases on?
This online training aims to enable front-line professionals to gain a better understanding of the details of different types of injuries, what types of accidental injuries are common for different age groups, what factors would tend to suggest a non-accidental injury, and unusual factors to look out for.
It will also consider what has been learned from Serious Case Reviews, the level of evidence which a court of law would seek in order to rule that an injury was likely to be non-accidental, what type of questions should be asked and information sought, and how that information should be recorded and shared.
“The case reiterates the importance of the ‘ten commandments’ set out by Baker J in Re JS [2012] EWHC 1370 (Fam). This is a list of ten principles that should be followed by courts when dealing with a case of non-accidental injury.“
From ‘Burden of proof and medical evidence in non-accidental injury cases (A Local Authority v ID and others)’ by Dr John Fox, Lamb Building, 24 January 2018, familylaw.co.uk
“It is essential for there to be an open dialogue with all professionals concerned, to ensure that families are not put through the upheaval of proceedings if this can be avoided.”
Rebecca Kocerhan, Barrister in Family Law, writing about The case of Re C (Permission to withdraw: medical evidence: Interim threshold not crossed) `{`2018`}` EWFC B37 http://www.centralchambers.co.uk/non-accidental-injury-when-to-challenge-interim-threshold/
Format of the training
- This training takes place online and sessions (excluding the live workshop) are pre-recorded by the presenter.
- Details of the sessions, with approximate timings, are given in the Agenda section. We advise you to leave some additional time for any reflections or exercises included. PowerPoint slides will be provided.
- In order to offer flexibility to busy professionals, the sessions can be accessed at any time over a three-day period, from Monday 5th – Wednesday 6th December 2023
What you will get from us
- Once you have booked, you will be emailed a brief confirmation.
- Approximately 1-2 weeks prior to the start of the training days we will email joining instructions which will include your personal access codes, full details of how to access the training sessions and the live workshop, and your PowerPoint slides.
- After you have completed the training, we will email a Certificate of Attendance for your CPD records
Technical heads up
- If you are part of a large organisation, please check with your IT department that there are no firewalls which will prevent you from accessing the training.
- We strongly advise accessing the sessions using Chrome
- We’re here to help, so if you have any problems, just call us or email us (contacts below)
The live workshop
- The live workshop is run by the presenter for one hour at 3pm on 6 December
- This is your opportunity to ask a question, or to raise a real-life situation you are experiencing, or have experienced, in the course of your work.
Please feel free to telephone us on 0115 916 3104 or email us
on conferences@ccclimited.org.uk with any queries.
Agenda
The sessions are pre-recorded, totalling approximately 3 hours, and can be accessed 24 hours a day within the three day period. We advise allowing extra time for exercises and reflection.
Session 1
30 Minutes
Overview of physical abuse and non-accidental injuries
- Groups of injuries
- Recognising and responding to all injuries
- Legal processes triggered by non-accidental injuries
- Body mapping
Session 2
30 Minutes
Learning –
- Recognising and responding to injuries/info-sharing
- Legal processes triggered by non-accidental injuries
- Referral, information sharing and consent
Session 3
15 minutes
Learning from serious case reviews
Session 4
10 minutes
Ages and stages
Session 5
10 minutes
A high profile case exercise
Session 6
(15 minutes)
Recognising and responding to case scenarios
Live Workshop
Live online workshop with presenter 3-4pm on 6 December
- Children’s and families’ social workers
- Adoption and fostering social workers
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards
- Family support professionals
- Children’s charities
- Youth and play workers
- Schools – teaching staff, safeguarding leads, school nurses, parent support workers, exclusions and truancy officers, and mentoring staff
- Children’s Centre, nursery and other staff
- Other nurseries
- Youth justice professionals
- Police and Community Protection Officers
- Community safety
- Tenancy support officers
- Domestic abuse professionals
- Women’s centres and wellbeing services
- Community health services
- Maternity health services and health visitors
- Public health
- Designated Safeguarding leads for organisations, churches and charities
Please Note: this learning day is aimed at professionals who do not have a high level of medical knowledge of injuries
Anyone attending from Scotland or Northern Ireland should be aware that any legal & guidance references are generally English and Welsh policy.
Delegate fee: £65+ VAT = £78
Want to book a larger group (over 10)?
- Discount on the standard price available for these dates
- Arrange different dates to suit your group
- Training can be delivered in your workplace or live online just for your group
Call 0115 916 3104 or email conferences@ccclimited.org.uk to arrange
Booking Terms and Conditions
- The latest date for cancellation of standard rate places is 2 weeks prior to the first day of the training event; an administration fee of 25% will be charged for cancellation
- Substitutions will be accepted, but these must be notified in writing PRIOR to the first day of the training event
- It is the responsibility of each participant to ensure that they set aside time to access the online sessions; unexpected work or personal events will not entitle the delegate to access later events without re-booking
Cancellations should be made in writing to conferences@ccclimited.org.uk up to two weeks before the start of the event and will be acknowledged
This training will be facilitated by Pippa Waterman.
Pippa is a qualified nurse, midwife and health visitor, and a qualified teacher and trainer in safeguarding. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was a Senior Lecturer for MSc in Safeguarding at the University of Birmingham. Pippa has been a Named Nurse and lead trainer for safeguarding children in a large NHS Trust, and has sat as a magistrate and worked in domestic violence courts.