Professional curiosity is the capacity and communication skill to explore and understand what is happening within a family rather than making assumptions or accepting parents/carers versions of events or disclosures at face value. It can require practitioners to think ‘outside the box’, beyond their usual professional role, and consider families’ circumstances holistically.

It is a combination of looking, listening, asking direct questions, checking out and reflecting on information received. Curious professionals engage with individuals and families through visits, conversations, observations and asking relevant questions to gather historical and current information.

Why is it Important?

Professional curiosity is a golden thread through Safeguarding Partnership learning reviews and audits and is an essential part of safeguarding. Nurturing professional curiosity is a fundamental aspect of working together to keep children, young people and adults safe.

A lack of professional curiosity can lead to:

• Missed opportunities to identify less obvious indicators of vulnerability or significant harm.
• Assumptions made in assessments of needs and risk which are incorrect and lead to wrong intervention for individuals and families.
• The concerns are dealt with in isolation.

Professionals asking questions and seeking explanation from parents/carers is something to be valued; healthy challenge is good and can provide assurance that your assessment of the situation is accurate.

Good information sharing, supervision, and open discussion at key decision-making meetings to ‘check and test’ information can be crucial in ensuring this does not happen.