Belgrave Clinic’s Child Safeguarding Statement
This is a General Medical practice providing primary medical care to the local community and visitors at Belgrave Clinic , Ranelagh, Dublin 6 . We have daily contact with children necessitating physical examinations. We in the practice are committed to safeguarding children as a core part of our work. Children will be accorded equal respect to all other patients but their physical safety is primarily the parent/guardian’s responsibility while on the premises.
Risk assessment (specific to minors).
| Risk identified | Procedure to manage risk |
1. | Unaccompanied minors attending doctor or nurse | All people under 16 years need to be accompanied by parent, guardian, or other adult verbally designated to us by the parent or guardian. People 16-18 are encouraged to have parental consent and knowledge of their visit here. |
2. | Unaccompanied children in waiting room. | Where possible children should accompany their parent to the doctor/nurse’s room but if this is impractical e.g. due to lack of space or privacy, then another family member should be present in the waiting room. The reception staff cannot be responsible for such children. |
3. | Physical risk in the waiting room or clinical room | A risk assessment has been carried out and hazards identified and minimised as far as possible but again the parent/guardian are primarily responsible for maintaining the child’s safety on the premises. |
4. | Unaccompanied physical examination of minors. | Physical examinations of minors will only take place with parent or guardian present and aware of reason for examination. The only exception is in an acute emergency. |
5. | Other risks as brought to our attention by the public | We will endeavour to assess and manage any other risks as far as possible |
Procedures
Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, the Children First: National Guidance, and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our service:
- Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers or student of a child availing of our service (private discussion with complainant, and referral onwards to Tusla)
- Procedure for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children (all clinical staff undergo Garda vetting)
- Procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including identification of the occurrence of harm
- Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla (referral by phone and in writing as necessary)
- Procedure for maintaining a list of the persons in the relevant service who are mandated persons (the GPs and the practice nurse)
- Procedure for appointing a relevant person (Dr Hugh McMahon is a senior partner permanent GP in the practice so he is the relevant person)
Implementation
We recognise that implementation is an ongoing process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service. This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed on, or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.