Agenda Item: 3.2 REPORT TO TRUST BOARD. 31st May Title. Briefing on Goddard Inquiry Lead Director. Lisa Nobes, Director of Nursing Author(s)

Transcription

1 Agenda Item: 3.2 REPORT TO TRUST BOARD 31st May 2016 Title Briefing on Goddard Inquiry Lead Director Lisa Nobes, Director of Nursing Author(s) Lisa Nobes, Director of Nursing Purpose To receive for information Previously considered by By Quality Committee 11 May 2016 Executive Summary On Thursday 12 March 2015 the Home Secretary established a statutory inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act with the aim of conducting an overarching national review of the extent to which institutions in England and Wales have discharged their duty of care to protect children against sexual abuse. This followed the Saville Enquiry, the child exploitation in Rotherham and the Miles Bradbury case in Cambridge. Justice Goddard accepted the Home Secretary s invitation to chair the Inquiry and took up the position on Monday 13 April Following a statutory consultation process, the Home Secretary set the terms of reference for the Inquiry and announced the appointment of the four members of the Inquiry Panel. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales. This paper reports on: 1. Justice Goddard s requests to institutions who have a duty of care to safeguard children; 2. Suggested processes to review provided by Verita who held the independent investigation into governance arrangements in the paediatric haematology and oncology service at Cambridge University hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following the Myles Bradbury case; 3. Ipswich Hospital Trust s next steps following publication of suggested governance processes. Related Trust Objectives Sub-objectives Consistently deliver great healthcare to every patient every day Improve the healthcare we provide to patients where and when you need it. Deliver care to patients when they need it. Develop our teams to provide the care we want for our own families. Embed accountable leadership throughout the organisation Deliver care to patients in the appropriate setting Improve the value of the Suffolk Health. 1

2 Flexible and responsive to future demands Risk and Assurance Design new pathways to improve the overall wellbeing of our population. Action plan will be monitored through Quality Matters Steering Group and operationalised at Safeguarding Children Committee. Related Board Assurance Framework Entries NA Financial Implications None Legal Implications/Regulatory /Statutory Requirements Action Required by the Trust Board To receive for information. Nothing declared within the report contravenes Trust legal/statutory responsibilities or human rights of staff and / or public. 2

3 BRIEFING ON GODDARD INQUIRY BACKGROUND 1. In Justice Goddard s opening statement on 9 July 2015 she said: I want to conclude by reinforcing the Inquiry's call to victims and survivors, or those with information about institutional failings, to come forward. At the same time I want to lay down a challenge to those institutions that have, or have had, a duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse. I urge you to take a proactive stance towards the Inquiry to review your files, records and procedures voluntarily and to take the initiative to selfreport instances of institutional failure rather than waiting for us to come and see you. Above all, review your current safeguarding policies to make sure that they are consistent with best practice, and take whatever steps you can to provide a safer environment for children now. 2. While clarification was sought relating to specific actions and timeframes, the Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children developed an initial action plan monitored through Safeguarding Children Committee which comprised of four main actions: Ensuring historical children s records are not destroyed until the Inquiry completes Review safeguarding policy Review chaperoning policy Audit chaperoning processes 3. In January 2016, further information was received from NHS England which clarified the Inquiry methodology. The Inquiry starts in individual geographical areas by listening to victims/survivors and is called The Truth project. Victims/survivors of child abuse are invited to tell their stories and the themes are then shared with the Inquiry. The Inquiry team consider further evidence and then call relevant organisations to the Inquiry: The Truth Project gives any victim or survivor of sexual abuse who has been failed by an institution the opportunity to have their experience heard and, with their permission, anonymously recorded as part of this Inquiry. Too many have been silenced over too many years and we strongly encourage victims and survivors to take up this opportunity to tell us their truth. 4. Verita have published guidance following their involvement with Miles Bradbury review on managing the requests of the Goddard Inquiry: We believe the key words are proactive stance The following check list, which while not necessarily exhaustive, should give NHS organisations a head start in being proactive and preparing to meet the expectations of the Goddard inquiry. KEY ISSUES 5. The following checklist contains the recommendations from Verita: Provider trust/commissioning organisation safeguarding leadership Can you describe the assurance systems in place for safeguarding both internally and externally? How are you engaging with the LSCB? 3

4 How is that engagement reported to the organisation? Does the organisation understand the LSCB priorities? Has the organisation signed off and implemented recommendations from CQC/Ofsted inspections, SCRs and safeguarding SIs and how can it demonstrate learning? Has the organisation received level 6 safeguarding executive leadership training as set out in the intercollegiate guidance? How does the organisation set out its annual audit programme relating to safeguarding? Does the organisation s minutes demonstrate non-executive challenge of the safeguarding annual report? Safeguarding policies and implementation Are all policies in date? Are processes in place for implementation? Do staff have access to them? Are current policies in line with best practice? Are named personnel included and still current? Are DBS checks up to date? Is there a comprehensive record of safeguarding training? Is the safeguarding training record up to date? Does the record include refresher training? Does an exception report on safeguarding training go to the organisation s board/governing body? Is there a KPI about training has it been achieved? Is there guidance about support to victims and staff in the policies? Does such support exist? Have you had any stand back review of safeguarding? Questions for such a review might be: o Is safeguarding embedded across the whole organisation? If so how? o Is there a culture which understands/promotes the importance of safeguarding? o Is leadership clear for safeguarding issues? o Is safeguarding practice guided by thoughtfulness? Safeguarding incidents and investigations Is it clear who has a grip/overview on safeguarding if Goddard calls? Do you have a clear summary of records you hold and where they are? How are they catalogued could you find relevant files if you had to? Do you have a comprehensive record of referrals to the LADO? Have you stopped destroying relevant records? Has the organisation any memory/record of relevant incidents in the past including during the lifetime of predecessor organisations? Have there been safeguarding incidents that have resulted in investigations and/or recommendations? Have the recommendations been implemented? Is there evidence to suggest practice is improved? Do you know if action was required? Was it taken? Have you found and retrieved any relevant paperwork? 6. This checklist has been reviewed by the Director of Nursing and the Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children. Areas of improvement have been addressed in the action plan. 4

5 NEXT STEPS 7. An assurance plan will be developed to demonstrate assurance processes and evidence of compliance, this will be monitored by Quality Matters Steering Group. 8. The action plan has been updated to include areas of non-compliance and will be implemented and monitored by Safeguarding Children Committee reporting progress quarterly to Patient Safety and Clinical Effectiveness Committee. RECOMMENDATION 9. To approve the process detailed above. 5