3.18 Fabricated or Induced Illness by Carers (FII)

There is currently no national multi-agency guideline which considers children who may have been harmed by parents/carers fabricating or inducing illness in the child.

These guidelines emphasise that FII is not a form of child maltreatment and, in making a referral and other multi-agency working, the harm should always be considered and defined.  This harm may include physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect or impairment of health or development.

For the purposes of this guidance, FII is considered as, ‘a clinical situation where a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm through the fabrication, falsification or induction of illness by a carer and/or from responses to these parental actions by health professionals’.

These guidelines assist professionals from all agencies in recognising significant harm in these children and how to safeguard them.

 National Guidance

• NICE guidance: Child Maltreatment: when to suspect maltreatment in under 18s
• RCPCH guidance:  Perplexing Presentations (PP) / Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in Children RCPCH guidance

The full guidance can be found in the HIPS FII guidance