Hospital emergency departments lack policy and strategies for spotting child neglect or abuse

In a survey of emergency department staff from across Europe, only around half said their hospital has a policy in place to help staff identify children who are being neglected or abused.

The research, presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress [1], also shows that hospitals with such a policy are more likely to use strategies that are known to be effective in identifying children who are maltreated, including screening tools and staff training.

The study was presented by Féline Hoedeman, a PhD and medical student at the Erasmus MC Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She said: “Abuse and neglect have devastating effects on children, families and society, but they can be very difficult to spot. Children who sustain injuries due to abuse are likely to present at an emergency department and previous research shows that staff can play an important part in identifying these children, especially if they have the right training, tools and resources.”

Read  more