Name of service being provided: Athlone Physiotherapy and Pilates Clinic
Nature of service and principles to safeguard children from harm: Athlone Physiotherapy and Pilates Clinic provides a range of out-patient Physiotherapy Services to members of the public, including to children under the age of 18 years.
In accordance with the requirements of the Children First Act 2015, Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017, and Tusla Guidance on the preparation of Child Safeguarding Statements, this practice makes the following Child Safeguarding Statement:
This Practice will:
- I) Adopt and implement fully Child Protection Procedures set out in the Child Safeguarding Policy
- II) Appoint a Designated liaison Person (DLP) – Anne Egan Farrell
III) Insist that child protection and welfare considerations are reflected in all the practice`s policies, procedures, practices and activities. In doing so this practice will adhere to the following principles of best practice in Child Protection and Welfare
The practice will:
- Recognise that the protection and welfare of children is of paramount importance, regardless of all other considerations
- Fully comply with its statutory obligations under the Children First Act 2015 and other relevant legislation relating to the protection and welfare of children
- Fully co-operate with the relevant statutory authorities in relation to child protection and welfare matters
- Adopt safe practises to minimise the possibility of harm or accidents happening to children and protect workers from the necessity to take unnecessary risks that may leave themselves open to accusations of abuse or neglect
- Develop a practice of transparency and collaboration with parents to encourage parental involvement in the rehabilitation/therapy for their child
- Fully respect the confidentiality requirements when dealing with child protection matters.
This practice will adhere to the above principles in relation to any vulnerable person that avails of services
- IV) The following procedures/measures are in place
- In relation to any member of staff that is the subject of an investigation in respect of any act, omission or circumstance in respect of a child attending the practice, the staff will immediately institute the Disciplinary Policy for staff
- The selection or recruitment of staff and their suitability to work with children will depend of their submitting to Garda Vetting – the statutory vetting requirements of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016
- The practice will provide information, instruction and training as necessary to staff in respect of the identification of occurrence of harm. To this end it will provide each member of staff with a copy of the Child Safeguarding Statement, Encourage staff to avail of relevant training and maintain a record of all staff training in this regard.
- In relation to reporting of child protection concerns to Tusla, all staff are required to adhere to the procedures set out in the Child Safeguarding Policy
- In this practice the above named DLP is the “relevant person” (as defined in the Children First Act 2015) to be the first point of contact in respect of the child safeguarding statement.
- All Chartered Physiotherapists employed by the persons are mandated persons under the Children First Act 2015
- In accordance with the Children First Act 2015, a Risk assessment of any potential for harm to a child while attending the practice is maintained with control measures for managing any identified risks contained
- The various procedures referred to in this Statement can be found in the Child Safeguarding Policy which will be made available on request
- This statement is accessible to parents and guardians on request. A copy of this Statement will also be made available to Tusla and / or the Department on request.
- This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed annually or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which this statement refers.
Risk Assessment
We have carried out an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of our services including the area of online safety when accessing the internet. Below is a list of the areas of risk identified and the list of procedures for managing these risks.
| Risk identified | Procedure in place to manage identified risk | |
| 1 | Children attending practice alone for appointment | Parents will be advised that all child appointments must be attended by parent/guardian |
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 |
Implementation
We recognise that implementation is an on-going process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service.
This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed on 1st January annually, or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.
Anne Egan Farrell M.I.S.C.P.
For queries, please contact Anne Egan Farrell M.I.S.C.P., Relevant Person under the Children First Act 2015.
