Safeguarding children by means of information sharing

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.