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GP292 Professionals’ consultation service in the child sexual abuse (CSA) unit

Introduction/Background St Louise’s Unit provides assessment and therapy services for children/young people where CSA is a concern. The multidisciplinary, multiagency professionals’ consultation model was introduced in 2016, and adapted in 2018. Some children/young people referred to the unit for assessment and/or therapy regarding CSA, have other complexities in their lives such as concerns of other types of abuse, living in care and other health concerns (including mental health concerns). Therefore introducing additional specialist CSA services to the child’s life, may in fact add to these complexities. Aims and objectives When a referral is received in St Louise’s Unit, the Consultation service aims to bring together the professionals already involved in the child/young person’s life by offering additional support for those professionals. Methodology The interdisciplinary team came together as part of the Children’s Health Ireland Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Programme in 2018. A retrospective review of the referrals to St Louise’s Unit was carried out and data from referrals from June 2018 to March 2019 was collected. Results For that 9 month timeframe, there were 89 referrals to St Louise’s Unit, with 20 directly to the Consultation Service. Consultation appointments were offered on Wednesday afternoons. Interdisciplinary representation from St Louise’s Unit, Laurels Clinic, Tusla, An Garda Síochána other agencies involved in the child/young person’s life all met in St Louise’s Unit for a 2 hour meeting. The outcomes were 50% of referrals were discharged, 43% were forwarded for assessment and 7% were referred to therapy services in St Louise’s Unit. Discussion The consultation service is a collaborative and reflective process that allows for shared thinking in complex cases and supports case progression or resolution. Some of the outcomes included working through assessment versus therapy dilemmas with the system around the child; successfully resolving CSA concerns in custody and access cases in a way that was least intrusive for a child; identifying mental health concerns; and preserving foster placement and stability for a child. Conclusions This structured consultation service in St Louise’s Unit has led to collaborative working within the unit and with other professionals involved in the child/young person’s life where CSA is a concern. In the 20 cases reviewed, this service supported the professionals already involved in the complexities of the child’s life with least intrusion for the child.