Children and Families Health Services
Orkney Inter-agency Child Protection Guidelines
Read the Orkney Inter-agency Child Protection Guidelines
Public Protection - Information for Health and Social Care Workers
Everyone deserves to grow up and live their lives free from harm.
Public protection is about us all working together to keep vulnerable people safe in our communities.
To safeguard the most vulnerable individuals within our communities an information leaflet has been produced outlining our public protection responsibilities.
NHS Orkney Public Protection Guidelines
If you’re worried about a child, please contact Orkney Health and Care Children and Families Services on 01856 873535 during normal office hours Monday to Friday. More information can be found on the Council’s web-pages: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/child-protection.htm.
Out of office hours, please contact us 01856 888000 or call the police on 101. If you think a child might be in immediate danger you should contact the police right away by dialling 999.
The NSPCC also operate a national 24 hour helpline on 0808 8005000. https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/our-services/nspcc-helpline/
Children's Rights
We want to recognise, respect and promote children’s rights. These include rights to be treated fairly, to be heard and to be as healthy as possible.
Our vision is a Scotland where children’s human rights are embedded in all aspects of society. A Scotland where policy, law and decision making takes account of children’s rights and where all children have a voice and are empowered to be human rights defenders.
Click here to find out more about Children's Rights.
Children’s Services and Child protection
In Orkney, Children’s Health Services sit within Orkney Health and Care (OHAC). This is a partnership between Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney. The Partnership aims to improve and develop social care, community health and wellbeing. We want to provide the best possible care for people in Orkney, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.
Children’s Services across Orkney aspire to ensure that children and young people receive the right help, at the right time and in the right way.
The Children’s Services health team provides a full range of services.
Children and Families Health Team
Children and Families health services comprises of:
- Maternity services (antenatal up to 10 days post birth)
- Health Visitors (pre school)
- School Nursing (primary 1 to year 6 of secondary)
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Paediatric Physiotherapists
- Paediatric Occupational Therapists
Maternity services are based at The Balfour.
Health Visitors, School Nurses and Speech and language Therapists are based at The Balfour.
Our Paediatric Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists are based at the Peedie Sea Children’s Therapy Centre.
Child Protection
Concerned about a child?
Contact Orkney Health and Care Children and Families Services on 01856873535
during normal office hours Monday to Friday, 09:00 - 17:00
In case of an emergency, out of office hours, contact 01856888000
What is child abuse?
Child abuse is any action by another person – adult or child – that causes significant harm to a child. It can be physical, sexual or emotional, but can just as often be about a lack of love, care and attention. We know that neglect, whatever form it takes, can be just as damaging to a child as physical abuse.
An abused child will often experience more than one type of abuse, as well as other difficulties in their lives. It often happens over a period of time, rather than being a one-off event.
Child Protection
All professionals working with children and young people or with their parents or carers must consider the needs of and risks to those children and young people.
Everyone in Orkney should be working to the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland – this was adopted by the Orkney Child Protection Committee and a range of local protocols accompany these.
· Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful events occurring in childhood including:
· domestic violence
· parental abandonment through separation or divorce
· a parent with a mental health condition
· being the victim of abuse (physical, sexual and/or emotional)
· being the victim of neglect (physical and emotional)
· a member of the household being in prison
· growing up in a household in which there are adults experiencing alcohol and drug use problems.
Child Sexual Exploitation
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is where vulnerable children and young people can be groomed or abused. CSE can leave young people with life long trauma that impacts their health and well being. There is agreement throughout the UK that child sexual exploitation is child abuse, and that any child or young person, regardless of gender, ethnicity, family background or sexual orientation, may experience this kind of exploitation.
Female Genital Mutilation
Female genital mutilation involves procedures that include the partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons. This practice is medically unnecessary, extremely painful and has serious health consequences, both at the time when the mutilation is carried out and in later life.
The World Health Organisation has classified FGM into four types and estimate that approximately 6000 women and girls worldwide are subjected to this practice every day. This deeply rooted tradition is widely practiced mainly among specific ethnic populations in Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia. FGM has also been documented in Iraq, Israel, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan.
The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2014 states: – Female genital mutilation should always be seen as a cause of significant harm and normal child protection procedures should be invoked
Female Genital Mutilation is illegal within the United Kingdom.
Orkney's Good Parenting Plan 2020 - 2025
The Good Parenting Plan is approved by the Orkney Partnership and is a statutory, progressive five-year plan which sets the framework within which all Orkney Partnership agencies will work to improve the lives of our care experienced children, young people and care leavers.
The Good Parenting Plan is:
- Organic in nature and will include the continual contributions, through engagement and participation, of our looked after and care experienced children and young people.
As it’s delivery progresses, the identified improvement actions will be subject of:
- Review,
- Modification, and
- Additionality, as required, to ensure the needs of our looked after and care experienced, children and young people are met.
It is essential that all NHS Orkney employees think about the Plan and engage in reflective discussion about their role in supporting our care experienced children, young people and care leavers.
Read more about the Good Parenting Plan here
Corporate Parenting
A corporate parent is the name given to an organisation, or person, who has special responsibilities towards young people who have experienced care or being a "looked after child". These responsible bodies include public bodies, such as the NHS.
The duty of care extends to the 26th birthday for care experienced young people. This means that the responsibility applies to all parts of the organisation, not just children's services or primary care services. Key things for adult services to consider are policies on access to service and barriers faced by this group of young people. These barriers can include financial issues as well as emotional and behaviour issues.
NHS Orkney are currently updating their Corporate Parenting plan and this will be added here once it is complete.
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