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Early years professional are being advised to look for “soft” signs of abuse, following draft guidelines released by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

 

NICE has drawn up the guidance in response to a request from the Department for Education and the Department of Health, including a list of symptoms that do not indicate abuse in themselves but could trigger further consideration, depending on the individual circumstances. It has advised practitioners to use their judgement and follow-up where necessary to make sure that action is taken.

 

The warning signs include: low self-esteem, wetting and soiling, recurrent nightmares, aggressive behaviour, habitual body rocking, indiscriminate affection-seeking, over-friendliness towards strangers, excessive clinginess and persistent attention-seeking.

 

The advice is designed to help teachers, early years practitioners, police officers and other professionals identify less obvious symptoms of abuse, alongside clearer signs that warrant immediate action.

 

NICE’s guidelines recommend that professionals contact social services straight away if any child arrives to a setting injured or is persistently unclean. Parents physically punishing their children to excess or young children exhibiting overtly sexualised behaviour are also considered serious signs of abuse that should be immediately followed-up.

 

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, explained: “We want all professionals to be aware and recognise when they need to ask questions or follow up with colleagues about a child’s wellbeing. Not all cases will cause concern but if we do not ask, we may miss opportunities to protect children in their time of need.”

 

NICE is asking for feedback on the draft guidelines, which will be taken into consideration before its final publication on the topic. The public consultation on the new guidelines will run until 19 April. For more information, visit the NICE website .