Inspection of the HSE Child Protection and Welfare Service ... - hiqa.ie

Inspection of the HSE Child Protection and Welfare Service in Waterford Local Health Area in
the HSE South Region
Health Information and Quality Authority
Standard 2:11 – Serious incidents are notified and reviewed in a timely
manner and all recommendations and actions are implemented to ensure
that outcomes effectively inform practice. A
This standard was met.
Serious incidents which impacted on children’s safety and welfare were notified to
the relevant persons. There were two serious incidents which were notified to the
HSE incident management team within the past 24 months. These notifications
preceded the appointments of the principal social worker and the area manager, but
they were fully aware of the protocols and procedures which govern the reporting
arrangements. Reviews were carried out in accordance with agreed processes and
recommendations arising from reviews were implemented in a timely manner.
One of the serious incidents was reviewed by the HSE National Review Panel
immediately prior to this inspection. The report arising from this review had not yet
been published. Following the 2011 audit of cases of neglect the area manager and
principal social worker told inspectors that the findings and recommendations of the
audit report were considered carefully and that an action plan was put in place.
Inspectors viewed the action plan and found that the actions listed were clear and
specific with a definite timeline in place for the implementation of Phase 2 of the HSE
standard business processes. Staff and managers told inspectors that they had
discussed the results of the audit and that they had changed a significant number of
practices within the department as a result. Inspectors found that the timeline for
the implementation of Phase 2 of the standard business processes had been met and
various other recommendations, including that of increased cooperation with
voluntary services, had also been implemented. Processes were in place for learning
from national inquiries, including the Roscommon Inquiry, training on which was
provided to staff during the inspection.
Standard 2:12 – The specific circumstances and needs of children
subjected to organisational and/or institutional abuse and children who
are deemed to be especially vulnerable are identified and responded to.
This standard was met in part.
The LHA raised awareness about children with additional vulnerabilities with some
voluntary and community organisations and had done some work on raising public
awareness about organisational and institutional abuse of children. Inspectors spoke
to a HSE information officer, who had provided some training to community and
voluntary organisations within the area on the subject of safeguarding young people
with whom their staff came into contact with. This training highlighted legislation
such as the Child Abuse Act 1998 and the Reckless Endangerment of Children
(Criminal Justice Act 2006) and Children First (2011). Specific details of when the
training took place and who participated were not available to the inspectors.
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