Partnership working in services for children and young people Essay

1.1 Explain why working in partnership with others is important for children and young people. Agencies working with one another in partnership is important as it enables information and concerns to be shared, this helps with the overall development of the child. It can be used to keep a child safe from harm,(every child matters Victoria Climbie no agencies involved in her care shared information which resulted in her tragic death).It can identify if a child has any special needs the child can then get support and help. It promotes a good relationship with parents/carers and helps them to feel more confident with the setting and its staff. It also help colleagues share information and observations leading to a greater understanding of child and their development which helps the child receive consistent level of care. Overall working in partnership ofers positive, improved outcomes for children and their families. 1.2 Identify who relevant partners would be in own work setting. Parents ,social services, carers, senco, speech therapist, ofsted, gp ,health visitor, physiotherapist, nursery, colleagues, psychologist, paediatrician and police. 1.3Define the characteristics of effective partnership working. For a partnership between a number of organisations’ to be effective characteristics such as good communication, trust and respect and confidentiality maintained at all times .All partners should have a clear aim that is agreed to ensure the needs of the child are meet. Parents and children should be treated fairly and with respect so that trust can be maintained. 1.4 Identify barriers to partnership working. There are many potential barriers, these can be inconsistency between  professionals. An information barrier, language barrier, incorrect information given, incorrect knowledge, personnel barrier, misunderstanding, poor communication, cultural and or religious attitudes to disability .A parents own education, previous experience, individual practitioners lack of knowledge of other professions, poor staff morale and poor morale from partners. Poor understanding of the aims of partnership and a lack of attention to the development skills of individuals. The wrong or insufficient partners involved and continual shifting of organisational structures and not planning in advance when things go wrong. 2.1 Describe why clear and effective communication between partners is required. Clear effective communication is not only required, it is necessary to achieve the best outcome for all those involved. The key principles of partnership are openness, honesty and agreed shared objectives. All documents should be clear and concise, well written and dated. Any face to face meetings should have minutes taken, an agenda and a plan of action agreed that is sanctioned by all those involved ,all telephone conversations should be recorded ie written in dairy, date, time and with whom and what was discussed. This should then be confirmed by email outlining the conversation. If a breakdown between all partners involved in the Childs care, there may be an emotional, physical or intellectual impact on the Childs development. Identify polices and procedures in the work setting for information sharing. All policies regarding information in the setting are based on the Uks government guidance, these are European convention on human rights. Human rights act. Common law duty of confidentiality. Data protection act 1988 Every child matters. Children’s act 2004. Working together to safeguard children 2006 Information sharing guidance Safe guarding vulnerable groups act 2006 The children’s plan 2007. Criminal records bureau guidance. I have included several polices all of which make sure that the staff know they have a professional responsibility to share information with other agencies in order to safe guard children. The manger will disclose any information on a need to know bias only. All staff aim to ensure that parents and carers can share information with confidence and it will be used to enhance the welfare of their child. All development records are confidential and only staff and parents have access unless it deemed necessary to share with partners, personnel records and welfare requirements are also confidential. Each child has a key member of staff ie a named person who is the parents main contact with development and safe guarding issues. We also have clear polices about sharing information and confidentiality, which describe the principles and boundaries of confidentiality and when to share information . 2.3 Explain where there may be conflicts or dilemmas in relation to sharing information with partners and maintaining confidentiality. If you believe or have concerns that a child in your care may be suffering or may be at risk of significant harm, you may be unsure weather your concern constitutes a reasonable cause to believe that this is happening. In a situation like this your concern should not be ignored and you should approach your manger. You should not discuss the matter with anyone who does not need to know and protect the identity of the child and family involved. If you do have concerns it is not advisable to discuss the matter with the family until appropriate partners have been informed and agreed plain of action has been agreed. Sometimes a person may not specifically ask a member to keep information that they have given about themselves or another individual confidential and would of course assume that this is implied, the person may then share this information with others, who are not part of the setting partnership. Sadly there may be a child in your setting, who is believed to have a physical or learning disability. Sometimes a parent may find it hard to cope  and would rather with the not acknowledge the situation and refuse to co operate with the setting. .4 Describe why it is important to record information clearly accurately, legibly and concisely meeting legal requirements. All information must be clear ,accurate and legible. The data protection act states that you should take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of any personnel data you obtain. Ensure that the source of any personnel data is clear. Carefully consider any challenges to the accuracy of information, and consider weather it is necessary to update the information. All information must be correct ,not used for any reason other than the reason it has been collected unless permission has been given. Not usually passed on without permission. Not to be kept for longer than necessary and to be secure. Under the data protection act parents can ask to see information that is held about their children and correct it if necessary and to know how the information is being used. 2.5 Identify how communication and records are recorded and securely stored meeting data protection requirements. We hold written records the purpose of which are to comply with legislative requirements. These demonstrate that statutory and policy have been meet .As tool to provide evidence of work that has been undertaken. That demonstrate accountability in decision making , and to give an account of the children’s history, significant issues and involvement in the setting. Help us analyse and make assessments to help see if goals and aims have been achieved. To provide a reference and a reminder to key worker communicate information to co workers and partners. Show how decisions have been made and in what order. Provide information for responding to complaints. We keep personal details such as name address contact numbers medical details including medical contact numbers. All files are kept in a locked cabinet in the management office, which if left unmanned by management is locked, and locked at all other times only management have access to the keys, so there is no way that anyone can have access unless they first ask management. Only when managements permission has been given, can a person have access to records however they must first sigh and date they have been allowed access and this will need to be counter sighed by a manger. No records are to leave  the building. Only safe guarding officers are able to do this and this applies when there is a need to share information with our partners. Any use regarding safeguarding issues is at the discretion of management. No one is allowed in to be alone in the building other than staff, and no one is allowed alone in the office alone other than management .No pictures of the children are stored on the computer, which are taken for the purpose of their file are printed placed in profile and locked in cabinet. The photos are then deleted from the computer and camera right away.