Information for parents and children
The care experienced medical team consists of paediatricians (children’s doctors) across each area in Lothian who look after care experienced children and young people.
Children may be care experienced if they are living in foster care, in kinship care (with a family member or friend) or if they are still at home and have a supervision order in place through the children’s hearing system. The care experienced medical team are community paediatricians which means that they are doctors who have expertise in child health and development.
Children who are care experienced will often have a social worker and the paediatricians in the team work closely with the social work team to ensure that children’s health needs are met. The paediatricians in the team may also support the care experienced nursing team if there is concern about a child’s health.
The care experienced medical team currently includes the following team members :
- Dr Alison McLuckie (Lead paediatrician for care experienced children and young people NHS Lothian)
- Dr Barbara Stewart
- Dr Rachel Noble
- Dr Jillian Dawson
- Dr Claire Sumner
- Dr Jane Hailey
- Dr Najla Elhaj
Children’s rights
The care experienced medical team in NHS Lothian are committed to taking a children’s rights- based approach in their everyday practice and in service development. Children’s rights are universal (all children have them), indivisible (no right is more important than another), inalienable (rights can’t be taken away) and interdependent (they strengthen each other). Whilst we are, of course, focused on children’s health and healthcare needs, we also aim to ensure that we consider children’s rights more broadly when we provide care. Article 21 of the UNRCR says the best interests of the child are paramount during adoption. For more information on Article 21 and children’s rights in Scotland you can look at the Children’s commissioners website
“The Promise” is Scotland’s Promise to make sure that children and young people who are care experienced grow up to be respected, happy and healthy. The promise came from the Independent care review and was based on the voices of care experienced people. We are working hard to ensure that we understand our work in the context of the Promise and how we can make sure that we apply the promise to healthcare in NHS Lothian.
Permanence medical advisers (adoption) Parent information
Article 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that when a child is adopted then their best interests should come first. This includes access to healthcare and their right to the best attainable health (article 24).
When a child needs to live away from their family permanently, and the child may be adopted, the child’s social worker might ask for advice from the care experienced medical adviser (one of the paediatricians in the team above) whose job it is to make sure that children have their health and developmental needs understood by the adults around them. If the child needs any extra support or care, then the medical adviser can help ensure that supports are put into place.
For the medical adviser to see your child for a health and developmental assessment in clinic, the doctor needs consent from you to do this. Sometimes if the child is over 12 then they can consent from themselves. The process of medical assessment will usually be explained to you by your child’s social worker and consent will usually be taken by them. You can ask them any questions about what will happen.
It is important to know, that as part of ensuring that your child’s health needs are understood, we might see your child for assessment if you allow us to and then share your child’s health information with the permanence panel whose job it is to ensure that the correct decisions are made for your child’s future. We do this by writing a medical report for permanency panel. Sometimes , if your child knows a doctor at the hospital well, we may not need to see them in person as all of their information is already gathered and understood. It is really helpful for children to know as much about their family history as possible. To help do this we ask for some information about your health and also for permission to review your medical notes. We might share information from these if it is relevant to the health of your child (for example a history of medical or developmental conditions).
We will also share the medical report with your childs GP and health visitor. This information can often be very helpful for children later in childhood and adulthood to understand their health needs and life story. It also ensures that children get the clinical care that they need at the time of assessment.
Rowan clinic (information for young people)
Two of the care experienced paediatricians work in a service called the rowan clinic. This is a clinic which aims to support the health needs of unaccompanied children and young people who now live in NHS Lothian. You might be referred to the rowan clinic by your social worker who will explain the reasons for the clinic assessment and what will happen at the appointment. The clinic usually happens at the royal hospital for children and young people but may happen in other places. It will say on your appointment where the appointment is and we will also let your social worker know so that they can help you to attend if you need it.
At rowan clinic we will often ask permission to do some blood tests and an x-ray to check for commonly acquired infections. This is so that we can treat them early. We will explain to you the detail of this in the appointment. We also do a general health assessment at the rowan clinic thinking about immunisations, dental and mental health. We will have an interpreter at the appointment if English is not your first language – this interpreter might be there in person or on the phone.
