Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Wednesday, 19 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 24 July 2006. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Monday, 4 September 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Fabricated Illness (Children)

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the purpose is of her review of the Safeguarding children in whom illness is induced or fabricated, guidance; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The guidance, ““Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced”” was published in August 2002, as supplementary guidance to ““Working Together to Safeguard Children”” (Department of Health,1999). The latter was revised in April 2006, to take account of the Children Act 2004.The purpose of the Department’s project is to review progress of how the guidance on safeguarding children in whom illness is fabricated or induced is being implemented within the national health service. The focus of the project is on health professionals in the context of health systems. There will also be some limited input from statutory agencies such as local authority children services who work closely with health teams on safeguarding children. The project is expected to be completed in 2007. Programme funding to continue the project in 2006-07 in not yet guaranteed.

Secondary information