Safeguarding Children

Find out about The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

Guidance for Health Professionals

Please click on the following links to access guidance on the following issues:

• Safeguarding Children
• FGM
• Children in Care - Guidance for Health Professionals
• Children in Care - Guidance for GPs

An introduction into Safeguarding Children

Safeguarding Children is a term for a range of measures and approaches to keeping children safe. It includes child protection, safe recruitment, statutory duties, patient safety, and partnership working between organisations to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

protecting children from maltreatment
preventing impairment of children's health or development: and
ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group (IESCCG) has a responsibility to ensure the safety and welfare of children and young people.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places CCGs under a statutory duty to make arrangements to ensure that, in discharging their functions, they have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

In order to fulfil its responsibilities effectively IESCCG promotes the following general principles as set out in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ HM Government 2013.

Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group commits to fulfil its duties regarding children’s safeguarding; and to be a formal Member of Suffolk Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) on local safeguarding arrangements, ensuring children in the CCG area have consistent, safe and effective care.

Effective child protection is essential as part of wider work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. However, all agencies and individuals should aim to proactively safeguard and promote the welfare of children so that the need for action to protect children from harm is reduced.

If you are worried that a child or young person is at risk of abuse, harm or neglect, please call

Customer First on 0808 800 4005 (free from landlines and most mobiles)

This is a 24 hour service staffed by a team of professional people with a legal duty to safeguard children. They will listen to your concerns and take appropriate action.

In an Emergency dial 999