Department of Health
LETTER FROM JANE ELLISON, PARLIAMENTARY UNDER
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH – FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM).
10 July 2015
The next few weeks are commonly
known amongst anti-FGM campaigners, not without good reason, as the ‘cutting
season’. This horrific name marks a time of year when many young girls are
taken abroad to have FGM performed, in order that they can ‘heal’ over the long
summer holiday period – mainly to avoid detection when they return to school.
Frontline staff are crucial in
identifying and protecting against FGM, so the NHS must be even more vigilant
in the coming weeks and take every possible action to prevent this abhorrent
practice. Some of the signs to look out for are:
·
Young girls
attending for inoculations to travel to countries with high FGM prevalence;
·
Young girls
talking about travelling home for ‘special’ ceremonies or rituals;
·
Families planning
absence from school that would extend the summer holiday period.
I would also like to remind you
of the safeguarding requirements on the NHS as there have been a number of
recent developments for health professionals around FGM (see Annexes). Please
cascade this information amongst your staff and ensure they are fully aware of
their responsibility to protect girls from this act, which is illegal in the UK
and extends to cover girls taken overseas.
NSPCC helpline staff have now
been trained by FGM health experts so that NHS staff can receive support from a
24/7 team of advisors who can discuss the often complex circumstances
surrounding cases of FGM. The helpline number is 0800 028 3550. Please
ensure that your staff are aware of this important source of information and
assistance.
Please also make sure that your
organisation has stocks of the ‘Statement Opposing FGM’ leaflet (a
wallet-sized document sometimes known as the “health passport”) for
families travelling abroad who may be pressured to allow girls to undergo FGM.
These are availa-ble to download from www.nhs.uk/fgm or to order from www.orderline.dh.gov.uk in a wide range of languages.
JANE ELLISON Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
for Public Health ( Signed)
Thank you for your invaluable
support in protecting girls.
ANNEX A – RESOURCES:
Training:
FGM e-learning
training modules: Raising awareness of female genital mutilation. The
five e-learning modules are free of charge to all NHS staff via the ‘e-learning
for health’ platform and cover a range of issues in relation to FGM at all
stages of a girl or woman’s life including:
- Introduction
to FGM;
- Adult women
both pregnant and non-pregnant;
- Children and
young women;
-
Communication skills for staff;
- Legal and
safeguarding issues .
These
e-learning modules have been developed by Health Education England and are
available at: www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/female-genital-mutilation
Safeguarding guidance:
Female genital mutilation
risk and safeguarding – guidance for professionals
Published by the Department of
Health in March 2015, this provides support to NHS organisations when
developing or reviewing safeguarding policies and procedures around female
genital mutilation (FGM). It can be used by health professionals from all
sectors, particularly designated and named safeguarding leads, and local
safeguarding children board members. The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-women-and-girls-at-risk-of-fgm
‘Statement Opposing FGM’:
This wallet-sized leaflet is a
preventive tool for families travelling to FGM practising
countries. It can be shown to
family members who may be pressuring a girl to undergo FGM. It is signed by a
number of government Ministers and clearly states that FGM is
illegal, details the health
problems it causes and lists sources of support. Available in
English and ten other
languages:
www.nhs.uk/fgm and www.orderline.dh.gov.uk
Patient Information Leaflet:
More information about FGM -
This leaflet is to be given to
patients identified with FGM. It defines the different types of FGM, explains
the health consequences and the help and support available, and provides information
on the FGM data being collected in the NHS. Available in English and ten other
languages:
www.nhs.uk/fgm and www.orderline.dh.gov.uk 3
ANNEX B – REQUIREMENTS:
Safeguarding
duties:
The
forthcoming FGM mandatory reporting duty will require a referral to the police
every time a confirmed case of FGM is identified in a child under 18 years of
age. We will issue guidance and advice on this in due course and assure you
that we will work with you to ensure the implementation of the duty across the
NHS is as smooth as possible.
In the
meantime, safeguarding responsibilities remain as before and as for all other
forms of child abuse. This gives us the opportunity to protect girls and
prevent FGM before it can take place. All NHS staff must take appropriate
safeguarding action every time they identify a child with, or at risk of FGM
following local safeguarding arrangements.
Recording
FGM data:
Acute Trusts
put in significant efforts during the last financial year to comply with the
mandatory requirement to record FGM in a patient’s healthcare record and submit
monthly returns, which were then published by the Health and Social Care
Information Centre. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for
your support and the work you have done to ensure compliance with this
requirement within your Trust. Your engagement to date means we now have a much
more informed picture of FGM across the NHS patient population. This is
invaluable for commissioning the right services, targeted where they are needed.
It also means that the NHS is in a better position to provide the right care
for women living with FGM and to protect girls at risk.
On 1 April
2015, we published a new information standard, ‘SCCI 2026 FGM Enhanced
Dataset’, which revised what information is collected, and the method and
frequency of collection. It is now mandatory for acute Trusts to comply with
these updates. The requirement to record FGM data has also been expanded to GP
practices and Mental Health Trusts who will be required to submit information
under the Enhanced Dataset when treating patients who have FGM, and ensure that
they are compliant by October 2015 at the latest. Please ensure that over the
summer and beyond this important and valuable information collection continues
to develop in your Trust – it is vitally important that you maintain the good
work done to date.
To support this we have sent
every General Practice an FGM information pack containing a range of resources
and materials.
