Safeguarding all children under the age of 18 from harm and abuse is a critical objective for all staff working in Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust. This applies to the relatively small number of children under the age of 18 we care for at the Ardenleigh centre and also those who we provide services to through our youth services and early intervention teams.
The greater part of our clinical care focuses on adults with mental health issues as well as substance misuse service users. It is important for all of our frontline staff to “think family” in the care they deliver day to day to ensure we know about family members and any caring responsibilities service users may have for children and vulnerable adults. It is essential for our staff to record these details, to fully understand our safeguarding policies and to know when to refer to Birmingham or Solihull Child and Family Social Care services if they have a concern.
Ensuring our staff have access to and are kept updated with safeguarding training is vitally important. Across our Trust in each programme there is a lead for safeguarding children. A work programme for 2009/10 is also in place along with a monthly governance meeting on safeguarding children. All the relevant referral guidance and policy is available to staff on our intranet under “child protection”.
Information sharing between agencies is a critical factor in protecting and safeguarding children. Within BSMHFT we have individual clinicians who have dedicated roles or time in their work to lead on safeguarding children. All these roles are engaged in the multi-agency work of the Birmingham and Solihull Safeguarding Board’s work
The safeguarding team are:
- Head of Safeguarding – Dave Newnham – Mobile 07985 882557
- Named Nurse – Paul Warwick – Mobile 07985 882137
- Named Doctor – Dr Dhruba Bagshi – Mobile 07985 882268
- Executive Director of Quality, Improvement and Patient Experience - Dee Roach
Out of hours contact can be made directly through the:
- Emergency Social Care Duty Teams for Birmingham – 0121 675 4806
- The Carnegie Centre in Birmingham – 0121 465 3763
Advice can also be sought from our BSMHFT on call rota.
Our Board receives quarterly reports on safeguarding children, other reports by exception. It has considered and approved the Declaration for safeguarding children in its meeting on 28th September 2009.
Dee Roach
Executive Director of Nursing and Board Lead for Safeguarding Children
