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Health professionals do not see child protection as their business and regard their role as helping social services, the final Victoria Climbie inquiry seminar heard, writes Janet Snell.

Mike Leadbetter, president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, said that the perception among those working in social care was that both child protection and children in general came low on the heath service agenda.

"I have example after example of difficulties in getting health professionals engaged, difficulties in getting them to see the child rather than the family dynamism and difficulties in getting them to come to case conferences," he explained.

He added that it was important that health staff took responsibility instead of "looking to social services at 4.30 on a Friday afternoon".

Other members of the panel said the problem went right to the top of government, and neither the home secretary nor the prime minister saw child protection as a priority.

Denise Platt, chief inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate, said she hoped the new children's national service framework would make it clear to each agency what its individual responsibility was.

"I think people think their responsibility is to help social services deal with child protection ... but in doing that you can forget as a particular agency what your own responsibilities are."

Richard Cooling, clinical director for Sutton and Merton primary care trust, admitted there has not been a major focus on child protection among GPs, adding that the amount of training they received on the subject was "minimal".

But Dr Maurice Conlon, director of primary care for the NHS clinical governance support team, said the criticism of health professionals made him feel "bristly".

"One of the reasons that clinicians are sometimes inhibited about referring child health cases across to social services is a perception - and I would emphasise this is likely in many cases to be incorrect - but there is a perception or an uncertainty about what will happen and how secure the process is once it is handed over."