A RECENTLY qualified social worker in Worcestershire has been advising a medical organisation on its policies about how practitioners can spot the signs of child abuse.

Twenty eight-year-old Laura Henry’s guidance so impressed the chiefs at Dental Nursing – the professional body for nurses working in dentistry – she was asked to write an article for publication in the monthly national journal.

Laura, who qualified as a social worker in February this year, is a child safeguarding social worker for Worcestershire County Council. Her article Safeguarding children: where does the responsibility lie? was published in the October edition Dental Nursing magazine.

Laura said she happened to know the editor of the Dental Nursing journal who was also writing the safeguarding policies for dental nurses. “She asked if I could help with the policies and I gave her some general advice about what to put in them. They liked it so much, they asked me to put it in an article for the magazine.”

Laura, who is a member of the Children’s Services Worcester West Team, admitted she is a practical hands-on social worker and had not considered writing articles for a professional body. “I just like getting out there and doing practical work but it was good to do it.”

She said she wrote her article and ran it past the principal social worker at the time who was really happy with it.

The article outlines the responsibilities of professionals across all areas who have contact with children and offers advice to dental professionals on the part they can play in spotting and handling concerns about children’s safeguarding.

In the article Laura stresses the importance of multi-agency working and that it is every professional’s responsibility to play their part in safeguarding children.

“The editor of the magazine asked me to keep it on a simple level as some people can panic about what happens if they report something they see.

“The important thing is to share the information so that it gets passed to the right person. It is just about pointing people in the right direction,” she said.

Spotting the signs of child abuse is relevant to any professional in contact with children. Teachers, health professionals, police and probation workers are already involved in spotting the signs of child abuse, but the advice now given to dental nurses could equally apply to staff at sports centres, outdoor activity centres or those running sporting clubs, other recreation workers e.g. dance tutors and music tutors.

Any professional who comes into contact with children could help provide a missing piece of the jigsaw that could help to protect a child from abuse.

Laura said dental nurses were in a good position to help spot possible abuse because they tend to see children on a regular basis and see children with their parents. They are also the only professionals who can assess a child’s oral health on a regular basis and this could show signs of neglect.

“What a dental nurse can provide is just a piece of the puzzle which other agencies may not get access to. They also get see children with their parents and can see the interaction between parents and children. They can see how parents respond to their children – are they warm and nurturing towards their children?

“If a child has not been seen by a dental practice for a few years, are the parents meeting the child’s health needs?

“The main point of the article is for people to be aware of the safeguarding policies for their agency, to have access to training and know who is the lead on safeguarding so they can talk things through with them.

“We are not expecting everyone to be experts in safeguarding and we want to ease any anxieties about it,” said Laura.

She said following a number of serious case reviews where children were abused, it was clear that a lot of different people hold different pieces of the puzzle that are not that serious on their own, but when you put them all together it creates a different picture.

The message from Laura to all professionals who see and are involved with children is: “Do not be afraid to chare what you know. It might not be significant but, on the other hand, it might.”

Laura also stressed that it is important for safeguarding professionals to look at ways of improving their services. “It is important that there is ongoing consideration of ways in which we can further improve our safeguarding services.

“A great way to do that is to educate professionals across other sectors and industries of the role they can play in supporting vulnerable children.

“I hope this article helps to spread the message that it is everybody’s responsibility to ensure children are protected and that each and every one of us has a duty of care.”

Extract from Laura’s article

“It is a common misconception that the role of safeguarding and protecting children is a job only for child protection professionals. In reality, the responsibility lies with all of us who come into contact with children and their families. It is estimated that over half a million children experience some sort of abuse in the UK every year (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children – NSPCC – 2015). There is a lot of anxiety from professionals about their role in safeguarding children, accompanied by concerns around how to identify, react to and act upon concerns for children’s welfare. People may often be intimidated by the thought of getting involved in safeguarding procedures and think that it is not their role to intervene.”

Laura’s article goes on to outline the different kinds of abuse – physical, emotional, sexual - and what to look out for; how to share information; dealing with disclosures or concerns shared by a child or parents; creating a bigger picture; what happens after information is shared; and further advice and information.