Mandatory reporting of child abuse not the answer: MDU
The Medical Defence Union (MDU) warns that a legal duty to report child abuse may introduce a delay to the detriment of children.
Registered healthcare professionals already have strict professional guidance that requires them to act on concerns about child abuse. Introducing a legal duty that requires doctors to report and to follow up reporting of child abuse is not necessary, the MDU says, and it may introduce delay to the detriment of children.
The MDU this week lodged its submission to the Home Office consultation paper ‘Reporting and acting on child abuse and neglect’.
The MDU said healthcare professionals’ child protection duties are already clearly set out, such as in guidance from the GMC, and the MDU experience is that doctors know their duty and do act in the best interests of children.
MDU medico-legal adviser Dr Ellen O’Dell said: “Doctors already have very clear professional guidance requiring them to act on concerns about child abuse or neglect. These duties are far wider in scope and explained in far greater detail than proposed legal duties.
“Our concern with a mandatory duty to report child abuse is that rather than reinforce the existing ethical requirements, it would create a new and different threshold. This may introduce confusion about whether a case should be reported leading to a delay which would be to detrimental to the child.
“Doctors understand the need to act in the interests of children, and we believe the introduction of new sanctions wouldn’t improve compliance among doctors who already act to protect children.”
