Safeguarding Children and Young People: A Toolkit for General
Practice
Introduction
General Practitioners (GPs)
and their teams sit at the centre of healthcare in the National
Health Service. They are uniquely placed to recognise and act upon
concerns for the well-being of children, and it is recognised by
the RCGP, the General Medical Council, the British Medical
Association and the relevant government departments throughout the
United Kingdom that safeguarding children is the responsibility of
everyone working in Primary Care.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
have worked collaboratively to produce the Safeguarding Children
and Young People Toolkit. The Toolkit was originally
produced in 2007, and has now been revised in 2009. The
Toolkit is intended to support GPs throughout
the UK who wish to increase their awareness and skills
regarding Child Protection.
Access the Toolkit
Led by Dr Andrew Mowat, RCGP Child Health Lead
and Chair of the Primary Care Child Safeguarding Forum, this
toolkit developed out of the RCGP “Keep me Safe” Strategy for
Child Protection published in 2005 which considered Lord Laming’s
2003 Inquiry into the Death of Victoria Climbie. The
Inquiry’s 108 recommendations were accepted by the Government in
full, in part or in principle.
The Toolkit is freely available for download from
this webpage. The Toolkit is available to download in
sections or as a full document.
Download the Introduction to the
Toolkit
Download the Practice Template
Download
Annex A: Legislation Guidance
Download
Annex B: Glossary
Download
Annex C: External Links
Whilst this toolkit reflects where possible the relevant
jurisdictions in which members of the Royal College of General
Practitioners practice, all practices will have
differences; the Toolkit provides guidance, templates and basic
information that are relevant to the practice team and can be
adapted to local needs. To reflect this need, the Toolkit is
also available to download as a Microsoft Word document.
Download the Toolkit as a word document
Training Module 1 and Training Module 2 (Available to
members only)
In order for practice teams to fulfil their roles
and responsibilities, they need to receive appropriate levels of
training, information and support.
The aim of Safeguarding
children and young people in general practice: Training
modules (2009) is to provide a training resource to enable the
practice lead on child protection to facilitate group training
within the practice.
Find out more on the Training Modules
Access Module 1
Access Module 2
Feedback
If you would like more information about Safeguarding Children,
or would like to comment on the toolkit and training
modules please email circ@rcgp.org.uk
circ@rcgp.org.uk
0203 170 8231