Safeguarding children in whom illness is fabricated or induced – the report reviews the NHS implementation of   Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced (guidance issued in 2002).  It finds:

• Greater knowledge of the existence of the fabricated and induced guidance is needed amongst all NHS staff, (including paediatricians and generalists in a wide range of health services such as unscheduled care)

• More focused implementation of the guidance through better and shared multi-agency protocols and joint training

• Better management of suspected cases, both clinically and in relation to co-ordination by local authority children’s services

• Continuing personal anxiety amongst paediatricians about the implications of identifying fabricated or induced illness rightly or wrongly.