HSE Child Protection and Welfare Service in Carlow/Kilkenny - hiqa.ie

Inspection of the HSE Child Protection and Welfare Service in Carlow/Kilkenny Local Health Area in theHSE South RegionHealth Information and Quality AuthorityDuring interviews with families, inspectors were told how they found the involvementof the social workers and the development of plans difficult at the time. On reflectionthey believed that good decisions were made to ensure their children were safe.During meetings with children, inspectors were told how the children appreciated therole of the social workers and other people in keeping them safe.The child protection notification system (CPNS) in the LHA did not comply withChildren First (2011). The area manager was the designated person responsible formanaging the CPNS for the LHA and held a record of children about whom therewere unresolved child protection issues although inspectors found some errors in thisrecord. For example, only two of three children from one family were listed on thesystem. There was a list of children’s names on an Excel database and inspectorsviewed the information which related to 2011 and 2012. At the time of theinspection, there were 87 cases on the list which were categorised as ‘open’ by theLHA. Of these, 27 were open to the CPNS since 2011 and inspectors were concernedthat risks may not have been sufficiently addressed for these children.The system in place for the management of ongoing child protection and welfareconcerns was not adequate. Inspectors found that the child protection notificationsystem (CPNS) had not been updated since 25 September 2012. The area managerreported that no formal communication had been issued to the social workers duringthis period in relation to children whose names had been added to or removed fromthe CPNS. Inspectors did not see evidence of a system in which all enquiries about achild were recorded, whether on the CPNS or not. The CPNS was not available on a24-hour basis as required by Children First (2011). Inspectors were told by the areamanager that during office hours An Garda Síochána could contact her office toconfirm if specific children were on the CPNS. Inspectors were told that the localhospital could check during office hours with the duty social worker to determine if anamed child was on the CPNS. During a review of children’s files and the interviewwith the acting principal social worker, inspectors found that information on whethera child’s name was placed on the list or removed was not routinely recorded by thesocial worker on the electronic system. As a consequence, information provided bysocial workers to any professionals, including An Garda Síochána or the local hospitalmay not always be correct.There was a Child Protection Notification Management Team (CPNMT) in placewhose role it was to consider the appropriateness of notifications made to the CPNSand determine if and when a child’s file should be closed to the system. This was notin adherence with Children First (2011) as its responsibilities belonged to theindependent chair of the child protection conferences. The CPNMT was not able toproactively manage the system and ensure that reviews took place in a timelymanner. Inspectors observed a team meeting and noted that the team had atendency to manage cases at a distance. The area manager stated at this meetingthat they would undertake a full review of all open cases on the CPNS in January2013. The future role of the CPNMT in the LHA was unclear. Following theestablishment of the independent chair of the child protection conferences,26