Editorial 147 Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol. 18: 147–150 (2009) DOI: 10.1002/car Learning and Training in Safeguarding Work This issue of Child Abuse Review coincides with the recent pub- lication of Lord Laming’s (2009) progress report on child protec- tion in England. This report is significant in highlighting the under-resourcing of front-line children’s safeguarding and child protection services, a climate of excessive bureaucracy and the need for better training, leadership and support for front-line staff, in particular social workers and health visitors, police child protection staff, GPs and accident and emergency staff. The papers in this issue provide some opportunities to explore and reflect on the best ways to achieve learning around childhood harm. Problems with interagency working are historic and both research evidence and Serious Case Review reports highlight the challenges of effective communication and the difficulties associated with cross organisational working. The report by Watkin and colleagues (2009) explores the use of a facilitated interprofessional learning programme with a range of professionals involved in child protection work to overcome some of the barriers associated with interprofes- sional working. The main focus of the programme was to improve participants’ knowledge and awareness of different professionals’ roles in order to optimise team-work skills. Through the use of regu- lar facilitated meetings and dedicated training time, the research showed a statistically significant improvement in five out of six measures of team performance over a period of six months. Reflec- tive statements provided evidence of the value of face-to-face con- tact, with participants reporting that having the time and opportunity to reflect on working practices with other agency colleagues enhanced learning at both individual and team levels. The authors draw attention to the support and time required to overcome ‘deep- rooted cultural differences and barriers to effective inter-agency working’ (Watkin et al., 2009, p. 164) and the need to link such interventions to service user benefits. More research is clearly needed on both the process of team working and learning and the impact and potential benefits for services users on the receiving end. Vicki Rowse’s (2009) small phenomenological study sought to examine the views and experiences of paediatric nurses and midwives involved in child protection cases to identify helpful support mechanisms. Very little research has been conducted in Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol. 18: 147–150 (2009) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/car.1072 ‘This report is significant in highlighting the under-resourcing of front-line children’s safeguarding and child protection services’ Editorial Jane V. Appleton and Nicky Stanley ‘To improve participants’ knowledge and awareness of different professionals’ roles in order to optimise team-work skills