Neglect
Neglect is the most prevalent type of maltreatment. It
is defined as the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic
physical and/or psychological needs and is likely to result in
the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.
Neglect includes failure to provide adequate food, clothes,
hygiene, medical needs and shelter, or failure to protect a
child from physical and emotional harm.
Maltreated infants suffer from greater developmental
disability than children who were maltreated later in
childhood. The child reaches, and achieves, more motor
and developmental milestones during infancy than during
any other period in life. In contrast to other causes of
developmental delay, neglect-related developmental delay is
commonly associated with the following features:
■■Abnormal behaviour, including avoidance, insecure
withdrawal and inactivity
■■Poor social interaction, including poor parental interaction
■■ Signs of neglect, including ill-fitting clothes and poor hygiene
■■ Significant improvement in milestones once the child
receives adequate affection and care.
Fabricated or induced illness (FII)
FII describes behaviours by a parent or carer that may result
in harm, including:
■■Deliberately inducing symptoms by administering
medication or other substances, or by intentional suffocation
■■ Interfering with treatments by overdosing, not administering
medication, or interfering with equipment
■■Claiming the child has symptoms that are unverifiable
■■Exaggerating symptoms, which may result in unnecessary
investigations or treatments
■■Falsifying test results and observation charts
■■Obtaining specialist treatments or equipment for children
that are not needed
■■Alleging psychological illness in a child. (RCPCH, 2009)
FII is associated with significant mortality (around 6%),
long-term or permanent injury (7.3%) and long-term
impairment of children’s psychological and emotional
development (Sheridan, 2003).
Practice points
When the possibility of abuse or FII is being considered, it
is important to:
■■Take a detailed history from both the child (appropriate to
their age and developmental level) and his or her parent
or carer. It is especially important to look for implausible,
inadequate or inconsistent accounts of an injury
■■Distinguish between anxious parents or carers whose
children are genuinely sick and the rare cases of parents
or carers whose behaviour risks causing harm to the child
■■Observe the child’s demeanour and interaction with other
family members
■■Consider full top-to-toe examination with appropriate
chaperoning and consent
■■Document the history fully: what was said, and by whom.
Document any examinations and clinical findings—a body
map diagram may be useful for multiple injuries
■■Consider discussing any concerns with the lead GP within
the practice or organisation, or with the designated GP or
nurse for the area
■■Gather information about the wider family—e.g. from
health visitors or colleagues
■■Discuss concerns with the parent or carer. In cases of FII,
consider how to support the perpetrator too—about two in
three may suffer from chronic somatoform disorders (mental
illnesses that may cause physical symptoms) or factitious
disorders (whereby a person deliberately and consciously acts
as if they have a physical or mental illness when they do not).
Red flags for FII
There are several red-flag indicators that should alert health
professionals to the possibility of FII:
■■A parent or carer reporting symptoms and signs that are not
explained medically
■■Physical examination and results of investigations that do not
explain symptoms or signs reported by the parent or carer
■■The child having a poor response to prescribed medication
or other treatments
■■Acute symptoms that are exclusively observed by/in the
presence of the parent or carer
■■The parent or carer reporting new symptoms in different
children, following resolution of the child’s presenting
problems.