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1.4.1 Death of, or Serious Injury to, Child in Community or Child in Care

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter outlines the steps to be taken in the event of the suspicious death of/serious injury to a child living in the community or the death of/serious injury to any child in care.

These steps are in addition to the carrying out of the Local Safeguarding Children Board Procedures in relation to the need to hold a Serious Case Review (Chapter 8) and the work of the Child Death Review Process (Chapter 7).

The arrangements for reviews and counter-signatories were clarified in January 2010 when this chapter was amended


Contents

  1. Death of or Serious Injury to a Child in the Community
  2. Death of or Serious Injury to a Child in Care
  3. Needs of Social Worker / Team / Manager / Carer


1. Death of or Serious Injury of a Child in the Community

Where information comes to notice of the suspicious death or serious injury to a child living in the community, the following tasks are required.

1.1

The child's social worker or, if unallocated, the duty worker receiving the information will:

  1. Immediately inform his or her line manager and send notification to the Quality Assurance Service Manager
  2. Obtain as much information as possible on the circumstances surrounding the cause of death/serious injury and pass this to the line manager
1.2 The line manager will immediately inform the Service Manager by telephone and provide follow up information in writing as soon as possible afterwards.
1.3

The Quality Assurance Manager will:

  1. Inform the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service
  2. Ascertain as full details as possible from the Police and any other source
  3. Request his or her administrative staff to check the Social Work and Safeguarding Service records on the child and family and print out any information held
  4. Collect any files held on the child and family and secure them at his or her office
  5. Arrange through his or her administrative staff to inform the other relevant agencies about the death/serious injury and remind them to secure their files
  6. Arrange to consider the circumstances of the death/serious injury, in accordance with the Local Safeguarding Children Board Procedures, Child Death Review Process (Chapter 7), including the need to hold a Serious Case Review (Chapter 8)
  7. Inform the Department for Education.
1.4

The report to the Department for Education will include the following information and must be approved by the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service before it is sent:

  • Local authority
  • Child's name
  • Parents' names
  • Date of birth
  • Date of death/serious injury
  • Child's legal status
  • Child's ethnicity, religion, language, disability
  • Cause of death as on Death Certificate
  • Dates if any when child was subject to a Child Protection Plan
  • The date and findings of the Post Mortem, Inquest and any criminal proceedings initiated. It may be necessary to notify these details at a later date
  • Brief details of the case
  • Local authority duties in respect of the child
  • Intention of the local authority to hold an independent management review
  • Policy and practice issues raised and intended local authority action (to follow later if necessary).
1.5 Where a Serious Case Review is to be held, the Service Manager, in consultation with the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service will determine the most appropriate person to carry out the internal management review of the case within the Social Work and Safeguarding Service.  The person undertaking the review will make a detailed Chronology of what is contained in the records, conduct interviews with members of staff where necessary and critically analyse the social work practice.  The objective is to establish whether the correct procedures were followed, whether professional judgments were sound and whether there are any training or management implications arising.  The reviewer should draw conclusions and make recommendations for future action as a result of any lessons learned.  The reviewer may also identify any issues arising for other agencies.  Prior to presenting the review report to the Safeguarding Children Board, the author should consult with the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service. 
1.6 The recommendations of the internal management review report should be reported to the Senior Management Team of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service as well as to the Local Safeguarding Children Board, together with a report of any follow-up action.  The recommendations should also be fed back to all relevant staff by the Service Manager or his/her nominee. The Independent Management Review (IMR) should be countersigned by the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service.
1.7 If a decision is made not to hold a Serious Case Review by the Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board, this will be notified to the Department for Education in accordance with the Local Safeguarding Children Board Procedures (Appendix 7) However, the Service Manager, in consultation with the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service, may still decide that there are issues arising from the case which justify an internal management review as described in 1.5 and 1.6 above.


2. Death of or Serious Injury to a Child in Care

Where information comes to notice of the death of or serious injury to a child in care, the following tasks are required.

2.1

The child's social worker will:

  1. Immediately inform his or her line manager
  2. Notify the parent(s) immediately and in person, if possible;
  3. In the event of a child's death, discuss with the parent(s) and reach agreement regarding the arrangements for the funeral (in the event of sudden, unexplained deaths arrangements for the funeral may need to be delayed);
  4. In the event of a serious injury to the child, arrange with the parent(s) to visit the child in hospital;
  5. Obtain as much information as possible on the circumstances surrounding the cause of death/serious injury and pass this to their line manager; and
  6. Discuss with the line manager any necessary expenditure including reasonable travel expenses to assist the family in attending the funeral or visiting the child in hospital where it appears there is financial hardship
  7. Where the child was in a long term foster placement, discuss with the line manager any possible conflict between the carers and the parents regarding arrangements for the child's funeral.
2.2

The line manager will:

  1. Immediately inform the Service Manager by telephone and provide follow up information in writing as soon as possible afterwards;
  2. Advise Legal Services initially by telephone, then confirm details in writing; and
  3. Contact the Insurance Section of the Finance Department, initially by telephone and then in writing.
2.3

The Service Manager will:

  1. Inform the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service
  2. Ensure that the parents' wishes concerning the funeral are discussed (by the social worker or the team manager), that any possible conflict with the wishes of the carers are also ascertained and addressed, and that any appropriate associated costs are met
  3. Consult the Head of the Social Work and Safeguarding Service about the need for an internal management review of the case and if so, the appropriate person to conduct the review
  4. Where a review is to be conducted, collect any files held on the child and family and secure them at his or her office
  5. Arrange through his or her administrative staff to inform other relevant agencies about the death/serious injury and remind them to secure their files where a review is likely to be required
  6. Arrange, in consultation with the Safeguarding Manager, appropriate meetings under the Local Safeguarding Children Board Procedures, including the need to hold a Serious Case Review
  7. Inform the Department for Education.
2.4

The report to the Department for Education will include the following information in the order shown:

  • Local authority
  • Child's name
  • Parents' names and support being offered to them
  • Date of birth
  • Date of death/serious injury
  • Child's legal status
  • Child's ethnicity, religion, language, disability
  • Cause of death as on Death Certificate
  • Dates if any when child was subject to a Child Protection Plan
  • The date and findings of the Post Mortem, Inquest and any criminal proceedings initiated. It may be necessary to notify these details at a later date
  • Brief details of the case, including type of placement
  • Local authority duties in respect of the child
  • Intention of the local authority to hold an independent management review
  • Policy and practice issues raised and intended local authority action (to follow later if necessary).

In the event of a Serious Case Review and/or internal management review being required, the steps outlined in Section 3, Needs of Social Worker/Team/Manager/Carer should be followed.


3. Needs of Social Worker / Team / Managers / Carer

During the implementation of this procedure consideration must be given to the needs of those staff and carers involved in the case.

The impact of a child death on social worker/team/manager/carer needs to be addressed in terms of:

  • The need for counselling for those involved
  • The manner in which such support is offered
  • The provision of access to legal and professional advice about the ongoing conduct of the case
  • The provision of a clear explanation of the process of a Serious Case Review
  • Support for staff in the event of Police investigation/interviews
  • The need to inform and keep informed any relevant Trades Unions
  • The need for team debriefing whilst observing confidentiality.  This must be discussed with the Service Manager
  • The need to acknowledge that a child death can impact on the productivity of any team and its ability to function; and the need to agree strategies to manage workloads.

End