Safeguarding issue?

[skypie]

I work in a team of health care professionals that regularly visits schools. One of my colleagues saw a 14 year old girl at a school last week. The girl identifies as a boy. The girl reported to my colleague that she had recently been overseas for surgery - bilateral mastectomy. She wasn't able to have the surgery in UK so her parents took her overseas. My colleague saw the scars.
I find this so disturbing, surely it's a safeguarding issue. I presume the school is aware.
Not sure what to do next.

My concern is that if I follow the normal safeguarding route, I'll be labelled as transphobic.

Terrifying. Bumping.

Why isn't your colleague raising the issue given she has seen proof this child has had illegal surgery?

I don't understand why this doesn't fall under a statutory duty to report.

If would recommend reporting it if it does fall within this duty.

Christ, we have only recently finally got laws against taking a child overseas for FGM, but this kind of thing is sanctioned as OK. The world has gone fucking mad. 😞

Surely it should be reported in the way that FGM is reported?

FGM is illegal and child abuse, and I’d class what the parents have done to this child as the same.

I’m pretty disgusted that your colleague who apparently saw the scars with her own eyes hasn’t reported this.

If this is true it needs to be reported to the police and social services.

What is your internal process about safeguarding and what is the wording that this meets? Surely if it meets it then you report.

Report. It's not your job to decide if this abuse but it is your job to raise this with safeguarding team.

You are not being transphobic. You are identifying that child has been taken abroad for major surgery that the NHS does not feel the child needed.

God I hope this isn’t true.
report of course.

Can I ask how your colleague see the scars???

The upside is that the post-surgery recovery must have been swift and complete for the child if the surgery was that recent.

I would hope that the child is seeing someone for follow-up care.

If you work in a team of health care professionals that regularly visits schools, you will already know the answer to this and you will also know the safeguarding procedure to follow.

Not your concern or call to make. Reporting a surgery the school didn't know about on a 14 year old is the only thing you need to do. You aren't making a judgement.

I'm a DSL; I'd be on to the local authority about it for advice quickly.

The op thinks the school may know about it. Does that mean that the school are failing in their duty of care?

Tell colleague if she hasn't or won't report that you will. Offer to support her in reporting if you can.

You ask to see the DSL, their faces should be on posters around the school. They will categorically not label you as transphobic. They will tell you if you need to take further steps and that's all.

Have you had any safeguarding training? A professional working with children would know what to do in this situation.

Apart from anything else, the coding for the absence would be interesting?

“She wasn't able to have the surgery in UK“ - that alone (so not even a private surgeon would touch this?)

This can't be a real post surely. If you're a HCP then you know what the procedure is for FGM which this would fall under so follow it!

I would imagine this scenario if real would be as fgm. Inform the police asap and create a report.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/mandatory-reporting-of-female-genital-mutilation-procedural-information/mandatory-reporting-of-female-genital-mutilation-procedural-information-accessible-version

Call 101.

Yes.

It's a story with some odd details. I don't know what the OP's friend is apprehensive about but it seems clear that there needs to be a report and it has to be done by the person who saw the scars and/or heard the child say this.

OP, did your friend report it? Is your friend wondering if she'll hear back on the follow-up to safeguarding concerns?