Hospitals failing on child protection

Children play in a playground, June 5, 2004.

LONDON (Reuters) - Hospitals are failing to give emergency and day care staff sufficient training in child protection, a health watchdog said on Friday.

The warning from the Healthcare Commission comes a day after a major review of national child protection called for a shake-up of training and support for social workers in the wake of the death of toddler Baby P.

The commission said one in five hospitals did not meet child protection training guidelines for nurses and said the situation had deteriorated in nearly one in 10 hospitals.

However, it said nearly three quarters of hospitals now met training targets for anaesthetists, up from less than a quarter previously.

"Our follow-up review of children's hospital services shows there have been improvements but more work is clearly needed," said the commission's chief executive Anna Walker.

"It is absolutely vital that NHS staff working with children know how to recognise signs of child abuse and know what to do if they see it."

She said experts consulted for the latest review had recommended that hospital staff should receive child protection training every year, rather than once every three years at present.

Health Minister Ann Keen said the government would monitor hospitals to ensure they provided the best care for children.

"We are very disappointed that some hospitals are not reaching the high standards that the Healthcare Commission assessed, and expect trusts to take urgent action to ensure that staff and services caring for children are of the highest quality."

Thursday's child protection review by Lord Laming blamed inadequate training, overstretched staff, complicated computer systems and a lack of communication among child care officials as failures in the system.

But it also said some accident and emergency departments were failing to follow child protection guidelines, adding that all A&E staff should be trained to recognise abuse and neglect.

The 17-month-old boy known as Baby P suffered a broken back and over 40 horrific injuries during a fatal campaign of domestic violence, despite having been seen more than 60 times by police, doctors and social workers.

(Reporting by Tim Castle)