Smedico Legal: Safeguarding Medico Legal : About

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The youngest child (18 months) who had been the witnessed victim of FII was in hospital but was well, happy and awaiting discharge to foster care. Many of the fabricated symptoms had been related to drop attacks/seizures which had been induced by the mother using medication.

The foster Mum brought the oldest sibling to the hospital to visit her baby brother. The visit went well and the children appeared to be happy together.

However when they left the hospital the 10 year old girl turned to the foster Mum and said:

"Did you see that; he had one of his funny spells. I saw it."

Our Case Handlers: At Smedico Legal all our case handlers are registered paediatric or adult nurses with at least 6 years post qualification experience. They are required to have regular safeguarding updates and medico legal training is provided by the company. Our quality standards are high and uniform. School chronologies are performed with those who have teaching qualifications.

We believe that their clinical experience has given them the incite to recognise what is important to include in a safeguarding chronology, what is relevant to comment on, and if alarm bells ring, when it is vital to report.

Our Managing Director: Smedico Legal is managed by Kate Wade who has more than 25 years' experience in the Healthcare sector in both Paediatric and Adult settings. In addition she has over 12 years Medico Legal experience which was an interest she acquired whilst obtaining Legal qualifications in 2002.

She has operated both within Critical Care and NHS management and is a registered Specialist Paediatric and Adult Nurse with an MSc in Clinical Research. Her wealth of experience combined with her passion for the subject, translates into a finely tuned ability to examine, identify significant events/patterns and highlight areas of concern/enquiry within medical notes.

Kate believes all the safeguarding information we need, professionals usually do have somewhere; the picture however may be hidden and the medical notes are often the key to "connecting the dots".

ABOUT US

Needless to say no such "funny spell" had occurred. The baby was absolutely fine but this young girl's "reality of health" was distorted by years of emotional and physical abuse and this was the very sad result.

Looking through the events in isolation meant thresholds for escalation had not been reached until the children were fairly advanced in age. However, when the Medical Chronologies were compiled and a Safeguarding Helicopter View assembled, the impression was overwhelming and would have indeed appeared so 4-5 years earlier.

As an incidental finding it was also suggested that the chronology relating to the father suggested he should be considered a possible victim as well as the children.

It was impossible for any single professional, however dedicated, to realise the pattern of behaviour was so extensive. A Medical Chronology, Commentary and Safeguarding Helicopter View was the only way for everyone involved in the case to see it.

When "Working Together 2013" recommended "early help", I knew we also needed "Early Medical Chronologies" to make sure help is appropriate and damage limited.

When I sit at my desk, engulfed by files, I know why I'm there."

Kate Wade, MSc, BSc hons, BA hons, RN, RN Child. PGCE, PGDL, CPE.

Managing Director, Smedico Legal.

Mission Statement by Kate Wade, Managing Director, Smedico Legal:

"My first realisation that medical legal chronologies were fundamental in safeguarding occurred when a "fabricated induced illness case" landed on my desk. The chronologies for the 2 parents and 3 children were extensive but there is always one event that I will never forget documenting:

Our Company Ethos: An understanding of the requirements of Safeguarding is fundamental to Smedico Legal. As specialists we believe we have an added responsibility to ensure the chronologies and commentaries we produce are factual, accurate and professionally presented. We never forget that behind the mountains of records there is a "vulnerable child" or "vulnerable adult" whose life is possibly in limbo, pending court proceedings. We are aware that the logistics of adoption can seem overwhelming and that children with complex needs can take longer to place. We are also cognisant of the strict timelines endorsed by "The Laming Report" and "Working Together 2013" and realise when a court requests a medical chronology they want it asap. We can work within those timelines with a turnaround of 14 - 30 days on receipt of all the records.

In Safeguarding we recognise that "event identification" and "pattern identification" are vital skills and so we focus on the production of quality letters of analysis and recommendation that accompany our chronologies and commentaries. We believe our "Safeguarding Helicopter View"© is unique to ourselves and is an invaluable tool for all professionals and for court purposes.