Safeguarding children declaration

The board of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has assured itself that arrangements are in place within the trust with respect to safeguarding children as set out below. 

1. The trust meets the statutory requirement with regard to the carrying out of criminal record bureau (CRB) checks
All staff employed by the trust undergo a CRB check prior to starting work, and those working with children undergo an enhanced level of assessment. Where there is an urgent operational need for staff to start work before the results of a CRB check are available, this decision is approved by the chief executive or a nominated deputy, and such staff are employed to work under supervision until clearance is received.

2. Child protection policies and systems are up to date and robust, including a process for following up children who miss appointments and a system for flagging children for whom there are safeguarding concerns
All child protection policies and systems are up to date and robust and are reviewed on a regular basis, ultimately by the trust board. The last review occurred in March 2010.  The trust has a process in place for following up children who miss outpatient appointments to ensure that their care and ultimately their health are not affected in any way. In addition, the trust has a system in place for flagging children for whom there are safeguarding concerns.

3. Designated and/or named professionals are clear about their roles and have sufficient time and support to undertake them
The trust has named professionals who lead on issues in relation to safeguarding. They are clear about their roles, have sufficient time and receive relevant support and training to undertake their roles, which includes close contact with other social and healthcare organisations. The time dedicated to these roles by the trust’s named professionals is detailed below:

Named nurse – 0.5 WTE
Named doctor – 0.2 WTE
Administrative support – 0.5 WTE

4. All eligible staff have undertaken and are up to date with safeguarding training at level 1
Eligible staff have undertaken relevant safeguarding training and this is regularly reviewed to ensure that it is up to date. The trust has a robust training strategy in place with regard to delivering safeguarding training, and as at March 2011, the following compliance levels applied:

77% of all staff are up to date on level one training – the target is 80%
85% of relevant staff are up to date on level two training – the target is 80%
96% of relevant staff are up to date on level three training – the target is 80%

The last training review occurred in October 2010.

5. There is a board-level executive director lead for safeguarding, the board reviews safeguarding across the organisation at least once a year and has robust audit programmes to assure it that safeguarding systems and processes are working
The acting director of nursing is the executive director lead for safeguarding children and chairs the safeguarding children group, which reports to the board on safeguarding children. The acting director of nursing also represents the trust on the Islington safeguarding children board and is a member of the NHS London advisory group for the new peer review programme.

The trust board takes the issue of safeguarding extremely seriously and receives quarterly reports on safeguarding children issues. The last report was received by the board on 31 March 2011.

The trust has robust audit programmes in place to assure the board that safeguarding systems and processes are working. There is also a multi-agency audit plan that is monitored via the local safeguarding children board.