Parents and Visitors

Child Safeguarding Statement

Children’s Health Ireland at Connolly

PDF Version available to download here.

Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Connolly is a paediatric health service located on the grounds of Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. It is part of the Children’s Health Ireland Group delivering children’s health services in Ireland. The CHI at Connolly facility includes an Urgent Care Centre, Out-Patient Department and Child Sexual Abuse Unit. It is staffed by specialist paediatric staff including doctors, nurses and health care professionals. CHI Connolly management and staff acknowledge that the welfare of children who attend our services is of paramount importance and our service works to safeguard children at all times. Every staff member has a responsibility and duty of care to ensure that every child / young person availing of our service is safe and protected from harm.

This safeguarding statement is prepared in order to keep children safe from harm while in our care and in line with requirements for organisations who care for children as defined in legislation. Harm as defined in the Children First Act 2015 as “assault, ill-treatment or neglect of the child in a manner that seriously affects, or is likely to seriously affect the child’s heath, development or welfare or sexual abuse of the child”

In our safeguarding practice we adhere to: Children First Act 2015 and Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (Dept. of Children and Youth Affairs 2017) Policies and procedures have been developed at national and local levels to promote safe environments for children and young people, to mitigate the potential risk for harm to arise and to manage it safely where it does. The policies and procedures outlined in this Child Safeguarding Statement apply to all staff (employees, students, trainees, volunteers, contractors and any other persons) performing any role or function in, or on behalf of CHI Connolly and all are required to conduct themselves in a way that reflects the principals of this statement.

Risk Assessment
This Child Safeguarding Statement is informed by a comprehensive Child Safeguarding Risk Assessment. The Risks applicable to this Child Safeguarding Statement are:

Risk assessments are treated as live documents that are maintained and monitored as necessary and appropriate. Queries regarding the Child Safeguarding Risk Assessment that was carried out at Children’s Health Ireland at Connolly for the purpose of developing this Child Safeguarding Statement should be directed to the named relevant person and are available for inspection on request.

Procedures
This Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed with due regard to, and in accordance with, the Children First Act 2015, Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017), HSE Guidance on Developing a Child Safeguarding Statement and Guidance issued by Tusla – Child and Family Agency. The following policies and procedures support our intention to safeguard children availing of the service:

• CHI Integrated Risk Management Policy
• Child Safeguarding included as a risk category within the Risk Management Process and management of any risk identified
• CHI Recruitment Policies in line with the National Vetting Bureau (children and vulnerable persons) Act
• Trust in Care HSE Policy and related procedures to investigate an allegation made against a staff member
• Procedure of Registration for Health Professionals
• HSE National Open Disclosure Policy
• ICT Acceptable Use Policy
• Procedure for reporting of child protection and welfare concerns to Tusla
• Procedure for maintaining a list of CHI at Connolly staff that are Mandated Persons
• Procedure for appointing a Relevant Person
• CHI group Children First Steering Committee and CHI at Connolly Children First Working Group
• Mandatory e-learning training for all staff “An Introduction to Children First” Access to further training and information on Child Safeguarding including the identification of occurrence of harm

Governance
The process for completing the Child Safeguarding Risk Assessment and Child Safeguarding Statement is guided by the HSE Child Safeguarding Risk Assessment and Child Safeguarding Statement Policy. Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) Chief Officers, Hospital Group (HG)/Hospital Chief Executive Officers and HSE National Managers have operational responsibility for ensuring this Policy is used to complete Child Safeguarding Risk Assessments and Child Safeguarding Statements in all HSE services as per the HSE Governance structure. This is also supported by the HSE Children First Governance Structure which includes a national HSE Children First Oversight Group and HSE Children First Sector Reference Groups. The CHI Group Children First Operational Steering Committee is in place to support the CEO of CHI to ensure all CHI sites are compliant with the requirements of the legislation. The CHI at Connolly Children First Steering Committee acts on the Connolly site, supporting work the of the CHI Group Children First Operational Steering Committee who report to the CHI Executive.

Implementation
Managers and Department Leads are responsible for ensuring that the policies and procedures outlined in this Child Safeguarding Statement are in place and operating effectively. The CHI at Connolly Children First Steering Committee aims to support the CHI Group Children First Operational Steering Committee to ensure compliance with Children First in CHI at Connolly

Relevant Person
For further information or queries in relation to this Child Safeguarding Statement, please contact: Dr Ciara Martin, Executive Lead, Children’s Health Ireland at Connolly, Tel: 01 6407500

Signed: Dr Ciara Martin, Clinical Director, CHI at Connolly

All lost property should be given to reception. All patients/families are responsible for their property when on site.

Infections come from almost any source, and germs can survive on surfaces for days. Wash your hands and use the alcohol gel where provided. Please inform a member of staff if you notice the alcohol gel dispensers are empty or not working.

All clinical areas at Children's Health Ireland in Connolly are accessible to people in wheelchairs, many of our reception desks have lowered sections and there are a number of accessible toilets throughout the building.

We ask you parents/guardians, to be respectful of the privacy of other patients, parents, staff and visitors when taking a photo of your child. • We ask you parents/guardians, who wish to photograph/video your child using their personal phone to first seek permission from a member of staff. You must make sure there are no other children or staff in the video footage or picture as this will compromise their privacy.

A new Electronic Document Management System October 2019

Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) is introducing a new Electronic Document Management System called Evolve

• Evolve will firstly operate in CHI at Connolly to support all General Paediatric outpatient appointments as part of the roll out.
• If your child has previously attended either CHI at Crumlin or Temple Street, your child’s healthcare record will have been scanned in advance of their General Paediatrics appointment in CHI at Connolly.

What does Evolve mean for you and your child

• This new ‘paperlite’ system will facilitate the sharing of patient healthcare records across all CHI locations. This allows clinical staff to see your child’s previous medical history contained in their healthcare records.
• If you attend CHI at Crumlin or Temple Street following today’s appointment in Connolly, healthcare staff will now be able to access all of your child’s healthcare records on the Evolve system.
• All patient information from today’s appointment and any future attendances will be included in your child’s digital healthcare record.

We thank you for your patience and understanding at this time as we upgrade and adjust to using this new system.

We want every child and young person to have the best experience possible when visiting Children’s Health Ireland at Connolly. Please let a member of staff know if your child has additional needs. The following are just some of the reasonable adjustments we make for children and young people with additional needs:

Smoking tobacco or electronic cigarettes is not permitted on the hospital campus including the grounds, from 31st May 2009. As part of your treatment we will advise and support you to stop smoking. We provide a Smoking Cessation Support Service.

If you want help quitting visit www.quit.ie or call the National Smokers' Quitline 1800 201 203 which is open 8.00am - 10pm Monday to Saturday.