Medical professionals will be asked to note on a child’s health record if they are potentially at risk of female genital mutilation, amid fears that doctors will be wary of treating patients who have undergone the procedure following the highly-criticised trial of a doctor who was found not guilty on Wednesday of performing FGM.
The new national system, announced on Friday, the UN day of zero tolerance of FGM, will ensure that data, including details of a family’s origin, will now be gathered from acute trusts, mental health trusts and GPs. As part of a push to improve the NHS response to FGM, data will be published quarterly and annually by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. New guidance is set to be issued, with the new system starting from September 2015.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also updated its guidance to ensure that all nurses and midwives who suspect that a woman or child is at risk should report it as they would with any other suspected abuse. But Janet Davies, director of nursing at the RCN, called on the government to ensure that all health professionals are trained to recognise FGM.
A jury took less than 30 minutes to find Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32, not guilty of subjecting a mother to FGM after he delivered her baby at the Whittington hospital in London. During the trial it emerged that he had been given no training on FGM, either as a medical student or a postgraduate, or in his supervised training as a junior registrar.
“Many nurses and midwives may be unaware of their legal and professional responsibilities when it comes to the reporting of FGM. This important guidance will bring them up to date and make clear what they can do to help tackle FGM and help protect their patients,” said Davies. “Everyone must know that FGM is abuse and must be treated as such. This guidance makes clear that if nurses and midwives suspect that a woman or child is at risk they should act as they would with any suspected abuse. There is also an onus on employers and the government to set out what is expected of health and social care staff, and to provide all the education and training they need to carry out their responsibilities in this area. Nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff are well-placed to help protect women and girls from this deplorable abuse, but need strong support and thorough training to do so.”
At a government conference to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, ministers will announce £1.6m funding for the next stage of the FGM prevention programme, aimed at improving the NHS response, and details of mandatory recording requirements from GPs and mental health trusts – already in place for NHS acute trusts – requiring them to record FGM incidence by October 2015.
A fund of £2m to build an expert team of social workers with experience of FGM – a joint endeavour by the Local Government Association and Barnado’s – would play “a crucial role in helping to protect potentially vulnerable women and girls in their communities”, said children and families minister, Edward Timpson.
Public health minister Jane Ellison promised e-training sessions for doctors and nurses to help them to talk sensitively with victims of FGM. “FGM devastates the lives of women and girls and we are committed to ending this brutal practice in one generation,” she said. “The measures announced today will help the NHS fulfil its duty to care for women who have had FGM, protect them and their daughters from further harm and prevent girls from being mutilated.”
Lynne Featherstone, crime prevention minister, said: “FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The coalition government has made great progress in tackling this harmful practice, and by working closely with campaigners and communities we are beginning to see a real step change. The new measures announced today are further evidence of our commitment towards ending FGM.”
