Photo documentation in child protection medical assessments

Delegates at the CPSIG child protection conference held in November 2019 were surveyed about photo documentation in child protection medical assessments; the full results and summary can be downloaded below.

The survey is estimated to represent 53 health organisations in England and Wales; the results relate to assessments carried out during working hours unless otherwise stated.

Overall findings:

• Wide unwanted diversity of practice between different organisations regarding the photo documentation of significant visible findings in child protection medical assessments. 
• Whilst many organisations report good arrangements, some clinicians struggling to arrange photo documentation with little or no support - resulting in no images in many cases, or leading to poor quality images and concerning data security (none of which is in the best interest of the child or the clinician).
• it is hoped that having clear practice standards will help to support clinicians to obtain access to good photographic services, ideally via clinical photography, or failing that by clinicians who have good support from clinical photography.