From the 16th July, all Children and young people in Scotland, under the age of 18, have protected rights under The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024.
This requires NHS Lanarkshire and other public bodies to take proactive steps to ensure the protection of children’s rights across all services and decision-making processes. This also includes our commissioned services and independent contractors.
Children and young people will be able to go to court to challenge any breaches to their rights and public bodies will be required to report to Scottish Government on what they are doing to protect and advance children’s rights. The legislation also gives power to Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner to raise legal challenges in court.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) consists of 42 rights, known as articles.
For more information and to view details of all the UNCRC articles, please visit:
https://www.cypcs.org.uk/rights/uncrc/articles/
What will this mean for you?
The new legislation covers all NHS Lanarkshire services and decisions that have an impact on children and young people- whether directly OR indirectly. It includes patients, young carers, visitors, staff members and prospective users of our services who are under 18.
Staff should familiarise themselves with the UNCRC articles and think about their current practice and any improvements or mitigations that should be put in place to protect children’s rights.
More detailed guidance is being developed and will be finalised soon. This will include:
- A new child friendly complaints procedure
- How to ensure meaningful participation and engagement with Children and Young People
- How to write child friendly information
- Conducting a compatibility assessment
- How to interpret the articles
- Recording and reporting
Updates will be available on Firstport:
http://firstport2/staff-support/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child/default.aspx
