Sharing concerns where a child or young person is at risk of harm | Right Decisions

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Getting it right for every child & young person in Highland: interagency practice model & child protection procedures 2024
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Information sharing: inter-agency principles
Sharing concerns where a child or young person is at risk of harm

Update your RDS mobile app to v4.7.2 to download toolkits even when website is down.

We are pleased to advise that deep linking capability, enabling users to directly download individual mobile toolkits, has now been released on the RDS mobile app. You will see that each toolkit has a small QR code icon in the header area beside the search icon – see screenshot below. Clicking on this icon will open up a window with a full-size QR code and the alternative of a short URL for sharing with users. Instructions are provided.

You may need to actively update to the latest release - RDS app version 4.7.1 - to see this improvement.

Updating to this latest version of the RDS app is also strongly recommended to get the full benefits of the new resilience arrangements – specifically, that if the RDS website should fail, you will still be able to download new mobile app toolkits. To check your current RDS version, click on the three dots bottom right of the RDS app screen. This takes you to a “More” page where you will see the version number. To install latest updates:

On iPhones – go to the Apple store, click on your profile icon top right, scroll down to see the apps waiting to be updated and update the RDS app.

On Android phones – these can vary, but try going to the Google Play store, click on your profile icon top right, click on “Manage apps and device”, select and update the RDS app.

Please get in touch with ann.wales3@nhs.scot with any questions.

When a Named Person or other practitioner has concerns that a child is not safe, four questions need to be considered:

Why do I think this child is not safe?
What is getting in the way of this child being safe?
What have I observed, heard or identified that causes concern?
Are there factors that indicate risk of significant harm and in my view, is the severity of factors enough to warrant immediate action?

If the child or young person is considered to be at risk of harm, then relevant information must be shared between services to enable an assessment to be undertaken to decide whether actions are required to protect the child. In such circumstances, the informed agreement of the child or parent may well be available and helpful, but their consent to share information is not a requirement.

The concern and other relevant information should be shared with Police and/or Social Work without delay. Help and Advice numbers are available at: Highland Child Protection Committee

Good recording of relevant information about strengths as well as risks and pressures, and the sharing of this information with the professionals allocated to undertake the assessment of risk and needs will support any subsequent measures to protect the child.