Child abuse: 30 years' experience at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital

The management of child abuse and neglect is an area that demands great skill. Here, we give a brief presentation of the 30 years' experience in this field at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, as well as a summary of certain clinical data and the intervention protocol applied. Between 1977 and 2007, a total of 1917 cases were referred to our Day Hospital (20.4% of all pathologies presenting for consultation). In order to increase the awareness of the signs and symptoms of abuse for people working with children, training courses have been introduced for school and social services workers, and a telephone counselling service has been set up to facilitate case referrals to the Day Hospital. A multidisciplinary approach was used in the assessment of abuse cases as well as for therapeutic issues. Skilled training of the entire staff is essential.