RCPCH Child Protection Service Delivery Standards published in 2020, set out that child protection medicals should be delivered by paediatric clinicians working at ST4 level or equivalent. Additionally, our intercollegiate guidance ‘Safeguarding Children and Young People: Roles and Competencies for Paediatricians’, sets out that paediatric clinicians responsible for child protection medical assessments, and their subsequent reports, must meet the Level 3+ Safeguarding Competencies.
This guidance is currently undergoing an update as part of the regular review schedule. This update will consider the competencies and skills of all roles supporting paediatricians in undertaking child protection medicals and will be led by RCPCH’s Child Protection Standing Committee, together with fellow Royal Colleges. It will take into account any concerns that have been raised and will ensure there is clarity for clinicians working in this area.
In addition, we welcome the FFLM’s statement of the 1 October 2024 which provides useful clarity on the processes around the examination of children who disclose or may be at risk of abuse and the provision of evidence arising from such examinations.
As a College, we acknowledge that our position on PAs has evolved since they were first introduced by the NHS 20 years ago. Health policy and the NHS workforce continually develop and change as new information and evidence becomes available, including the views and experiences of our members. The College’s webpage on Physician Associates in Paediatrics is the most up-to-date source for our current work relating to PAs.
Further work on Physician Associates is now being undertaken in response to the current medical landscape and paediatric workforce, which we know have significantly changed in recent years.
The College will continue planned work over the next month to build an evidence base of practice that is informed by paediatricians on the ground. This follows an independently conducted survey launched on 12 August 2024 for eligible UK-based members on Physician Associates in paediatrics.
This survey, which ran for 4 weeks, continues our programme of member consultation and gathered insight into what PAs in paediatrics are currently doing, as well as College member views on the role of PAs in paediatrics. We have brought in an independent, experienced research agency, Research by Design, to lead on this work, including the analysis of the survey results and subsequent report.
- We will receive the independently analysed survey data from Research by Design in late-October. All results and analysis will be published in full on the RCPCH website, alongside a College response.
- We expect this work to be completed in November 2024.