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Introduction: The 2004 Children Act in the UK saw the introduction of integrated working in children's services. A raft of change followed with processes designed to make joint working easier, and models and theories to support the development of integrated work. This paper explores the links between key concepts and practice. Methods: A practitioner action research approach is taken using an autoethnographic account kept over six months. The research question was, to what extent is this group collaborating? Results: When the architecture of practice was revealed, differences between espoused and real practice could be seen. Whilst understanding and displaying the outward signs of an effective multi professional group, the individuals did not trust one another. This was exhibited by covert interprofessional issues. As a result, collaborative inertia was achieved. This realisation prompted them to participate in further developmental and participative action research. Conclusion: The paper concludes that trust and relational agency are central to effective leadership of multi professional teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines some of the limitations of the annual data reports on child protection registrations provided in England and Wales and reports the findings of a study into patterns of variation on child protection registers. Previous studies of variations on child protection registers have usually examined variations between particular categories of registration, or focused upon the aggregated numbers of children registered in local areas. Unlike the limited official data, this study examined the actual periods of time that children remained registered. It found that there were significant variations by gender, age and local authority, in the periods of time registered. The paper concludes by raising questions about the range and nature of information that might usefully be collected about children, the merits of integrating data-sets, and the uses to which such data might be put. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1998 childcare was for the first time put on the political map with the publication of the Green Paper 'Meeting the Childcare Challenge' (DfEE, 1998), setting out the first National Childcare Strategy. Since then the childcare landscape has changed beyond recognition with a range of initiatives and considerable funding aimed at improving childcare services. A decade after its introduction, this article considers what the childcare strategy has achieved in relation to early years and what remains to be done to meet its key aim, that is: to provide good quality childcare for all parents who need it and all children who can benefit from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Pharmacy Minor Ailment Service (PMAS) was introduced in the UK over 15 years ago for use in treating minor ailments and has been shown to be effective and acceptable by the public in reducing the burden on high-cost healthcare settings (such as general practice and emergency departments). This paper aims to review the use of a PMAS in the paediatric population. Methods: PMAS was established in a London Borough in 2013. Data were collected from 33 pharmacists and 38 GPs on demographics, service utilization and costs. Results: In total, 6974 face-to-face consultations by 4174 patients were provided by pharmacies as part of the PMAS over a 12-month period. Moreover, 57% of patients were children with fever, hay fever and sore throat, accounting for 58% of consultations. Only 2% were signposted to other services. Sixty-nine percent of patients reported being seen within 5 min and 96% of patients were seen within 10 min with high levels of satisfaction. Cost savings of over GBP 192,000 were made during the scheme. Conclusions: PMAS is a highly cost effective, accessible and acceptable service for children with minor illnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has frequently been recommended that statutory child protection services in Great Britain need greater provision of specialist supervision to support front line social workers. This qualitative study, based in social services departments in London, used the focus group method to explore the provision of supervision by team managers in a very pressurized work environment. The study highlights the difficulty of protecting adequate supervision time but shows how supervisors can use their skills to conduct case related discussion concerned with developing professional skills. 'Inquisitorial' and 'empathic-containing' functions are identified and an approach is proposed for combining them in training courses for child protection supervisors. The paper recommends that supervision training needs to be expanded, to be more precisely targeted, and that outcomes need to be rigorously and appropriately assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to huge disruptions and multi-domain healthcare crisis, with additional impact on children and young people (CYP) affected by Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Methods: We conducted an online survey and obtained responses from 62 Paediatricians who provide ADHD services for CYP about their experience of Service disruption and adaptations during the first Covid-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom between March and June 2020. The responses were both quantitative and qualitative. Results: The Paediatricians reported huge service disruptions such that almost half ceased the assessment of new patients with ADHD, and only 5% were able to offer physical monitoring for most patients. However, all respondents had adopted telemedicine, which allowed them to maintain high levels of non-physical service provision for existing patients. The Paediatricians used risk stratification strategies to determine which patients were more likely to benefit from the limited available face to face appointments for physical monitoring. The Paediatricians demonstrated clinical pragmatism to meet the needs of their patients such as starting medication without physical exam especially if the patient’s behaviour was so challenging that it was presenting a crisis at home, and setting aside monthly limits for stimulant medications. Some respondents reported helpful cross-service collaborations to support CYP with ADHD and their families. Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic has had adverse effect on many CYP with ADHD and caused huge disruption to the ADHD services that support them. As the pandemic continues to cause disruptions to ADHD services, the service adaptations emerging from the literature including some of those identified in this study could be useful to support more stable and sustainable ADHD services, both during and after the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National clinical guidelines emphasise the need for good communication of information by clinicians to young people and their parent/carers about what to expect during transition into adult services. Recent research indicates that of young people in need of transition for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), only a minority experience continuity of care into adulthood, with additional concerns about quality of transition. This qualitative analysis explored the role that information plays in the transition from child to adult mental health services for young people with ADHD, from the perspectives of clinicians working in children's services. Methods: Participants were recruited from National Health Service (NHS) Trusts located across the United Kingdom (UK), with varying service configurations. Twenty-two qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 paediatricians and seven psychiatrists working in child services and supporting young people with ADHD. The Framework Method was used to complete a thematic analysis of data related to the role of information in transitional care. Results: Two themes were identified in relation to the role of information in supporting transition and promoting continuity of care. Information for clinicians; about adult mental health services, the young person and their ADHD, and exchanged between services. Sharing information with young people; about transition processes, self-management, to support service engagement, and tailored to be accessible to young people with ADHD. Clinicians in children's services reported variable access to information. Clear protocols and being able to communicate about ADHD as a long-term condition, were described as having a positive impact on the transition process. Conclusions: These findings illustrate that clear information on the transition process, and communication of evidence based and up-to-date information on ADHD as a long-term condition are essential components for clinicians supporting transition into adult services. Information exchange can be supported through transition discussions with young people, and joint meetings between services Discussions should be accompanied by accessible resources for young people and parents/carers such as leaflets and websites. Further efforts should be focussed on enabling clinicians to provide timely and appropriate information to young people with ADHD to support transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is prompted by the finding that social pedagogy—although not a familiar concept in the UK—is now being taken up with greater interest ( Petrie et al., 2006; Lorenz, 2008), especially in the field of early childhood education and residential child and youth care. Social pedagogy is believed to be able to promote shared values and skills across different fields in education and care that were, until recently, sharply distinguished from each other (Petrie, 2005). In this article, we reflect on the recent developments in the import of social pedagogy into the UK. Next, we comment on the assumed potential of the concept of social pedagogy. In connection with these comments, we make a plea for explicit recognition of ‘the social’ in social pedagogy. We endorse the historical reflections on German social pedagogy made by Lorenz (2008) and will add some considerations driven by our involvement with the development of social pedagogy in the UK. In the final discussion, we highlight the potential of social pedagogy as a perspective on social work (cf. Hämäläinen, 2003). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of social exclusion has a high profile in children's services in the UK. But how does a focus on exclusion change the way in which services seek to define vulnerable children and help them? In particular, how does it compare with (i) a risk and protective factor model and associated attempts to meet need and (ii) efforts to tackle poverty? This article examines the influence of the concept on policy and practice by considering seven emphases commonly associated with a social exclusion perspective. It argues that the concept offers helpful insights into child well-being and the shape of children's services but that these could be exploited more fully, and that many of its perceived benefits in terms of service orientation actually sit well if not better within existing conceptual frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent years have witnessed a revival in the popularity of measuring need in developing and developed countries as a precursor to distributing health, education, housing, social security and social care resources. The concept of needs-led children's services has particular purchase in England and Wales, where there is a legal requirement for local authorities to identify and assist ‘children in need’. Yet, children's services agencies have consistently struggled to do this meaningfully and efficiently. This article analyses the strengths and weaknesses of needs assessments in the field before discussing new methods that are appearing. The final section considers how to encourage children's services to shift resources into the new methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We outline selected central results from a formative evaluation of four pilot sites in England and Wales of the Integrated Children's System (ICS) - one part of the UK's e-Government strategy. We concentrate on the aspiration of the ICS towards 'integration' and 'systematization' of services within children's services, at local and national levels. We look in turn at, the use of the ICS as a foundation for aggregate statistical profiles; the experience and views of the social workers; and the implications of ICS for social work practice as exemplified in social workers' use of time. The evidence suggests substantial problems in accomplishing government policy aspirations in each of these areas. We review the likely reasons for these problems, and recommend a review of the ICS on the grounds that the difficulties are inherent rather than transitory, and have arisen at least in part from uncertainty as to whether the ICS is fit for purpose. The authors seek to promote the open and thoughtful debate that a major innovation of this nature requires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the history of Great Britain's changing government policies regarding the private fostering of West African children in Great Britain. In the 1950s, in response to reports by Great Britain's Political and Economic Planning Committee (PEP) on the psychological problems faced by married foreign students, the government felt that students be encouraged to travel with their wives and families while studying in Great Britain. A large scale private fostering sytem evolved to take care of these families' children. The article also discusses the decolonization of Nigeria and Ghana, as well as government policies regarding student visas.

The article reports on the shift of focus of preventive children's services from surveillance to promotion in Great Britain. According to health experts, the shift from surveillance to promotion requires pediatricians to play several roles in a larger multidisciplinary and multi-agency team. The current interest and investment in the promotion of optimum health and development for children is the result of emerging evidence that outcomes and life chances can be improved by preschool intervention programs.

Asset-based welfare represents a new departure in British income maintenance policy and the Child Trust Fund is its most important contemporary example. This Research Note explores the claims made for asset-based welfare in general and for the Child Trust Fund in particular. It sets out the results of an investigation into the views of young people into potential uses which individuals might make of the Fund. It then suggests a series of reasons why social workers ought to take a particular interest in the development of asset-based welfare policies and the benefits which might flow from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childcare as a policy issue has received unprecedented attention under New Labour, through various aspects of the National Childcare Strategy introduced in 1998. This policy focus looks set to continue, with the government announcing the first ever 10–year plan for childcare in December 2004, and childcare playing a major role in the 2005 manifesto and general election. Early years care and education is a productive area for New Labour as initiatives here can address several agendas: increasing social inclusion, revitalising the labour market, and raising standards in education. The provision of childcare is seen as having the potential to bring women back into the workforce, modelling child–rearing skills to parents understood as being in need of such support, and giving children the skills and experience they need to succeed in compulsory education. This article offers an overview of recent policy on childcare, drawing in places on a two–year study of the choice and provision of childcare in London. The article examines the developments in childcare planned and set in motion by the government, identifying some points to be welcomed as well as areas of concern. The authors demonstrate that even for privileged middle–class consumers, such as those in their research, the current childcare market is a very ‘peculiar’ one, especially when compared to the markets of economic theory. In conclusion, the authors argue that social justice in childcare is more than a matter of access, and highlight the lack of parental voice shaping the future direction and development of the childcare market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports the findings of a research report examining the potential for social workers to shift from a child protection to a child welfare orientation in their practice. Whilst social workers in Great Britain have been encouraged to make such changes, they have been hampered by concerns to manage risks. There was evidence of the continued influence of child protection processes as social workers sought to manage the risks inherent in child welfare cases. The study reported here sets out to ascertain the views the views of parents who were subject to child welfare interventions. The findings indicate that while parents feel apprehension with regard to contact with social workers, in the majority of cases successful relationships are formed. It is argued that social workers display considerable skill in monitoring potential risks whilst engaging with families and that the subtleties involved in such activity are not captured by official measures of governance which concentrate on more abstract indicators of performance.

Focuses on the implementation of purchaser/provider market mechanism structure for children and families services in Great Britain. Adoption of the model by local authorities; Impact of the structure on social services; Benefits of purchaser/provider structure; Effectiveness of the model for the coordination and service delivery.

The central purpose of this research was to find the extent and circumstances of the influence which a criminal record has upon appointment as a social worker with substantial, unsupervised access to children. One would suppose that applicants with a conviction for indecently assaulting a child would never be appointed, but that those with other kinds of record would be appointed to the extent to which prior offences were relatively trivial, distant in time and involved property rather than people. The reality was much less clear-cut. The study may be seen as a way of depicting the pattern and process of current practice. It has clear implications for the refinement of guidance to achieve nationally desired ends of child protection. This article will draw upon data gathered for a Ph.D., incorporating interviews with every social services department (SSD) in England and Wales. The study has yielded interesting findings relating to (in)consistency in decision making across SSDs. The findings from the first 64 interviews have been used for the article. Preliminary analysis suggests that the remaining interviews show similar patterns. The focus will be on possibly the most significant finding of the research: that six SSDs in a decision-making process relating to a number of fictitious candidates, revealed that they would have agreed to employ one of the candidates as a children and family social worker, despite knowledge of that candidate's conviction for indecently assaulting a child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about the Medicines for Children Research Network (MCRN), a research strategy initiated by the Great Britain Department of Health. This research strategy is coordinated by a consortium of university, National Health Services (NHS), and charitable organizations, which aims to support and promote research on medicines for children in NHS sites in the country. Moreover, MCRN also aimed to increase investment by the pharmaceutical industry in clinical research to insure that research will be conducted rigorously, efficiently, and according to good clinical practice that are relevant to the development of effective health programs for children.

The article discusses the development of the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) and the impact of its studies on the global pediatric medical epidemiology. It is stated that BPSU has provided a mechanism to respond to acute public health events in children and has emerged from its small base to become a major contributor to pediatric medical epidemiology across the world. Moreover, the services offered by the unit were made possible through the collaboration of the British and Irish pediatricians, for the betterment of child health across the whole of the British Isles. Information related to the unit's history and achievements is elaborated.