West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust provides acute healthcare services to a population of approximately half a million people. The trust went live with CP-IS in March 2015.
Michelle Mulvaney, the trust's Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children, is already seeing the difference that CP-IS makes to vulnerable children presenting for care at Watford General Hospital;
"A young child was brought to the emergency department by ambulance and was showing unusual behaviours, such as drowsiness and slurred speech. On admission the child's demographics, including the NHS number, were checked and a CP-IS child care alert was visible. This alerted us that the child was on a child protection plan (CPP) so their social worker was contacted immediately.
"The social worker's knowledge of the family gave us additional information to help us with our clinical decision-making. The possibility of a drug related presentation was considered, leading to an immediate urine toxicology test. This proved positive for cannabis.
"The result of the test was shared with the social worker and a child protection investigation (Section 47) was initiated. The outcome of the child protection investigation was that the child was removed from the family and placed with a foster family.
"The CP-IS alert enabled us to make a much better informed clinical assessment and faster decisions. Working alongside the social care team also meant that we were confident the child would be discharged to a safe environment."
"The CP-IS alert enabled us to make a much better-informed clinical assessment and faster decisions. Working alongside the social care team also meant that we were confident the child would be discharged to a safe environment."
Michelle Mulvaney,
Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust