A routinely high standard of record keeping is essential for a dental team who take safeguarding children seriously.
Records must include accurate basic personal information about every child and comprehensive clinical records of their dental care.
| ‘Over the years he had seen several of us at the practice and had been referred for GA extractions but had missed a number of appointments at the hospital. It was only because of my colleagues’ detailed record keeping in the past, including what they had explained to his mum, that I could see how his needs were being neglected and so had the confidence to act’ |
| A dentist reflecting on the care of an 11-year-old child who returned for a second time with a swollen face due to a severe dental infection |
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| ‘In court there was a discussion about who was given the dental appointment card - it was only the fact that the receptionist had written down that she gave it to the social worker, and not the parent that helped the family show in court that on this occasion they had not wilfully missed the dental appointment – of course this was only a tiny part in a much bigger picture, but we were thanked for the accuracy of our record keeping’ |
| A practice manager after being asked to submit evidence in a child protection case |
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Basic personal information
When a child attends any healthcare service for the first time, basic personal information must be recorded. Accurate records of these simple details contribute to safeguarding children. The information required is defined in government guidance28 and must be recorded for every child and checked for changes at every visit:
- full name
- address
- gender
- date of birth
- school
- name(s) of person(s) with parental responsibility
- primary carer(s), if different.
| ‘Front-line staff in each of the agencies which regularly come into contact with families with children must ensure that in each new contact, basic information about the child is recorded’ |
| Recommendation 12, Victoria Climbié Inquiry4 |
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