Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Feature Child Protection

After Baby P: can GPs follow child protection guidance?

BMJ 2011; 342 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d707 (Published 02 March 2011) Cite this as: BMJ 2011;342:d707

Rapid Response:

Child protection training should start earlier than general practice.

Although GPs are likely to have the first opportunity to identify
children at risk, the case of Baby P shows that it is essential that
healthcare professionals in many different settings are adequately trained
in identifying and safeguarding children.

As a medical student, I have noticed that there is a great emphasis
in the training of undergraduate doctors to identify clinical signs and
symptoms of sick patients who are at risk of serious disease and death.

However, less emphasis is directed at identifying children at risk of
neglect and abuse and what to do when confronted with these situations.
Baby P's case highlights the potentially tragic consequences of missing
such cases.

As the article states the guidelines and measures that have been
produced in response so far have been largely targeted at GPs, many of
whom are feeling swamped with guidance.

In line with Chris Cloke of the NSPCC. I feel that minimum standards
should be set and tested for all medical students before graduation to
ensure that they are equipped with the skills necessary to identify and
manage children at risk. I also feel that the training should be
coordinated by doctors, other healthcare professionals and social workers
to continue to give medical students an understanding of the roles of
different members of the multiagency team and to facilitate better
cooperation in the future.

James Voss,
4th Year Medical Student,
St George's University of London

Competing interests: No competing interests

07 March 2011
James N. Voss
Medical Student
St George's University of London