HC Deb 27 February 2001 vol 363 cc620-2W
Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the IT projects currently undertaken in his Department; and if he will state the(a) expected completion date and (b) cost of each project. [151506]

Ms Stuart

[holding answer 26 February 2001]: The information requested is shown in the table.

reporting to the police cases where, in the course of their duty, a nurse strongly suspects a child of being a victim of sexual abuse. [151355]

Mr. Hutton

Nurses are well placed to identify when a child may be suffering, or be at risk of significant harm. Like any other professional, a nurse must take appropriate action in accordance with locally agreed procedures, if he or she believes that a child is at such risk. This may involve a referral to local child protection services, which may include the police who then inquire as appropriate into the circumstances of the case.

The "Working Together to Safeguard Children" guidance, published by the Government in 1999, and "Child Protection—Guidance for Senior Nurses, Health Visitors and Midwives and their Managers", a report of the Standing Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee, published in 1997, together set out in detail the crucial role that nurses play in child protection.

We are currently developing supplementary guidance to "Working Together" which will focus on the role of all health professionals in child protection.

Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if full multidisciplinary investigations are carried out in accident and emergency departments of all cases where babies have been shaken. [151374]

Mr. Hutton

If a member of staff working in a hospital accident and emergency department believes that a child may be suffering, or may be at risk of suffering, significant harm appropriate action must be taken immediately in accordance with local procedures. This may involve a referral to local child protection services, which may include the police who then inquire as appropriate into the circumstances of the case.

The "Working Together to Safeguard Children" guidance, published by the Government in 1999, sets out how all agencies with child protection responsibilities should work together to safeguard children and promote their welfare. We are currently developing supplementary guidance to "Working Together" which will focus on the role of all health professionals in child protection.

Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information on specific treatment services provided to children at risk of abusing other children within the Quality Protects Programme is available. [151378]

Mr. Hutton

The Department does not seek from local authorities specific information on what services are made available under the Quality Protects Programme to children at risk of abusing other children.

However, children at risk of abusing other children are likely to have considerable, and often complex, needs. Local authorities are expected to work closely with their partner agencies to ensure that such children receive support and treatment based on their assessed needs.

Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future programme for research into the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment in the UK. [151380]

Mr. Hutton

We are committed to researching into the nature and extent of child abuse and its causes. Development of policy aimed at tackling child maltreatment is informed and influenced by published research in this complex field such as that carried out by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The revised "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (1999) guidance on child protection reflects the key messages from a programme of research studies into child protection issues commissioned by the Department of Health, "Child Protection: messages from research" (1995).

We regularly commission research into the needs of children and the impact of services which aim to promote and safeguard the welfare of children. The total cost of this programme for the current financial year is approximately £2.5 million. Projects considering the causes, directly or in part, of child abuse include: a study of the onset of sexually abusive behaviour in boys who were sexually abused in early childhood; a study aimed at advancing knowledge about the psychological maltreatment of a specific group of children: those singled out from their siblings and rejected by their birth parents and the comparative costs and outcomes of different interventions for sexually abused children.