High secure (formerly known as special) hospitals have a duty to implement safeguarding policies, liaise with their local LSCBs, provide safe venues for children’s visits and provide nominated officers to oversee the assessment of whether visits by specific children would be in their best interests. Children’s Social Care must assist staff in high secure hospitals to carry out their responsibilities in relation to the assessment of visits by children.

Prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs) operate a similar system in relation to sex offenders and other dangerous offenders.

The NHS Mental Health Trust is responsible for risk assessments of visits to patients who have mental health difficulties and are in local non-special hospitals (including those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983) and must make appropriate arrangements for the visit that safeguard the child.

Patients who are assessed as being a Risk to Children will only be eligible for a visit where an assessment has concluded that it would be in the child’s best interests. The patient must be the child’s parent, have parental responsibility for the child, be a relative or have been co-habiting with the child’s parent.

The nominated officer of the relevant hospital must contact a person with parental responsibility for the child to:

· Seek her/his consent for the visit

· Confirm the relationship of the child to the patient

· Clarify who will accompany the child on the visit (must be a parent, relative, foster carer or employee of Children’s Social Care

· Inform them of the requirement for an assessment by Children’s Social Care

A clinical assessment of the patient must be undertaken by the hospital.

If the clinical findings are supportive of the visit and the person with parental responsibility is in agreement, the local authority must be asked to undertake an assessment about whether the visit is in the child’s best interests. The clinical assessment will be provided to the nominated officer.

On receiving the request for an assessment, the social worker must:

· Inform the Safeguarding Unit for monitoring purposes;

· Contact a person with parental responsibility for the child to gain permission for the assessment.

Children’s Social Care’s assessment must establish:

· the child’s legal relationship with the named patient

· the quality of the child’s relationship with the named patient, both currently and prior to hospital admission

· whether there has been past, suspected, alleged or confirmed, abuse of the child by the patient

· future risks of significant harm to the child if the visits take place

· the child’s wishes and feelings about the proposed visit, taking into account her/his age and understanding

· the views of those with parental responsibility and, if different, those with day to day care of the child

· if it is known that the child lived in other local authority areas, what other information is known about the child and the family

· the frequency of contact that would be appropriate

· who would accompany the child on visits, and the type and nature e.g. quality and duration of relationship with the child

If the person with parental responsibility refuses to co-operate with the assessment and no information is known about the child, the nominated officer must be informed that a report cannot be provided.

Where the child is known to Children’s Social Care, information from records may be supplied with the agreement of the person with parental responsibility.

The assessment must be completed within 1 month of the referral and the report sent to the nominated officer at the high secure hospital stating whether, in the opinion of Children’s Social Care, the visit would be in the best interests of the child. A copy must be sent to the Safeguarding Unit.

If the social worker concludes that the visit would not, or may not, be in the child’s best interests then the hospital must not allow the visit.

If the social worker advises that the visit would be in the child’s best interests, then the hospital’s nominated officer should make the decision, following discussion with the social worker and after taking account of all available information.


Hindley YOI Safeguarding Policy - PDF Document (401KB)

Hindley YOI Child Protection Policy and Procedures - PDF Document (2.01MB)

Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice: Guidance on the visiting of psychiatric patients by children - PDF Document (42.9KB)

Postive, Relationships, Better, Outcomes A guide for staff in a Secure Settings - PDF Document(1.85MB)

Notifiable Incidents Process Serious Case Review - Hindley YOI - PDF Document (52.7KB)