title: Safeguarding children by means of information sharing.
abstract: This study explored the purpose and use of children's (aged nought to 16 years) records in an emergency department (ED) as a means of safeguarding children. It aimed to elicit ED staff and local child protection group perceptions of the use of these records. A case study methodology was utilised to uncover the story of why and how ED child records were used.The study was carried out in three stages--an analysis of a purposive sample of ED children's records, a focus group with 12 ED staff members in the case study site, and a focus group with 12 members of the local operational child protection group. The emerging findings indicate that child records are a good tool for communication, however the risk factors are not always recognised and the records are not sufficiently child focused. They also highlight that existing written records did not provide a format that enabled staff to record information comprehensively.
authors.affiliation: South West Essex Community Services, Anglia Ruskin University.
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Forge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004739:England; D017144:Focus Groups; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008330:Management Audit; D008499:Medical Records; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D012947:Social Work