Child Death
Child Deaths in Worcestershire
The death of a child is a very difficult time for parents, families and carers. As professionals we recognise this and extend our sympathies to all bereaved families.
Child Death Overview Panel
What is a review and why is it needed?
Under the Children Act 2004 there is a statutory requirement that all child deaths are independently reviewed. New requirements transfer responsibility to the child death review partners, namely the Local Authority and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), for making arrangements for the review of all child deaths in their local area.
Worcestershire County Council, in partnership with Herefordshire Council and the Herefordshire, South Worcestershire, Wyre Forest, and Bromsgrove and Redditch CCGs, has now agreed the new local child death arrangements. These arrangements are described in the Child Death Review Plan located at: http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/downloads/file/11281/child_death_review_plan
For any queries relating to this please contact Kath Cobain, Consultant in Public Health on kcobain@worcestershire.gov.uk.
How does a review happen?
Information about your child and how they died is collected and summarised in a report. The information comes from records held by Hospitals, GPs, Health Professionals, Schools, Police, Children’s Social Care, Education and other agencies who may have known your child. The report also includes some information about your family circumstances so that the Panel can ensure you are being supported appropriately.
The Child Death Overview Panel includes Doctors, other Health specialists, Children’s Services and the Police who meet regularly. They will look at the circumstances of your child’s death and will decide whether to recommend any changes or improvements to services for children that might prevent similar deaths in the future. Any recommendations are passed on to those organisations responsible for planning and managing services for children locally, as well as to other relevant agencies.
What happens when your child’s death is reviewed?
The Child Death Overview Panel will be informed of your child’s death and when all the information has been collected they will be given information about what happened.
It will take some months before all the information is ready as the Panel will wait until all the investigations have been completed. The information gathered is treated with the greatest respect and in strict confidence. The information provided is anonymised and we ensure that our findings, recommendations and reports do not identify your child or your family.
Lessons learned and recommendations made will be included in the Child Death Overview Panel’s annual report. Because of the anonymous nature of the CDOP review, it is not possible to provide feedback to families about the findings in respect of their child’s death.