The role of health professionals in the UK child protection system: A literature review

Abstract

The importance of inter-agency collaboration in child protection is a persistent message from the series of public child abuse enquiries held over the last two decades (Clyde, 1992; DHSSI, 1988; DHSS, 1974; LB (London Borough of) Brent, 1985; LB Greenwich, 1987). Despite the establishment of detailed and standardised procedures for inter-agency co-operation, subsequent research on the child protection system has continued to highlight difficulties in practice (Dartington, 1995; Hallett Q Birchall, 1995). Various reasons have been given for this, including tensions at interpersonal, interprofessional and interorganisational levels. Despite the major changes in the organisation and delivery of health and social care services over the 1990s, with the creation of internal markets, the separation of purchasers and providers and the growth of a ‘mixed economy' of welfare, relatively little attention has been paid to their impact on specific areas of inter-agency and interprofessional cooperation. This paper examines these issues in the context of the child protection system, paying particular attention to the role of health professionals. The article concludes that there is a need for more detailed investigation of the impact of developments at the ‘political economy' level on the ability of different groups of health professionals to work collaboratively in child protection.