There are two inter-related processes for reviewing the deaths of all children and young people, aged from birth to 18 years
- a rapid response to each unexpected death of a child by a group of key professionals who come together for the purpose of enquiring into and evaluating the death; and
- an overview of all child deaths in the area, excluding stillborn babies and planned terminations.
A sub-committee of the LSCB known as the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) is established in each area, is responsible for reviewing information on all death. The CDOP is made up of representatives of key agencies and is accountable to the LSCB chair.
All cases, including the deaths of children with chronic illness, disability and life limiting conditions, must be examined to:
- understand the reasons for the death
- address possible needs of other children in the household
- address the needs of all family members
- address any wider public health or safety concerns arising from a particular death or from a pattern of deaths in that area;
The process uses a standard set of data based on information available from those who were involved in the care of the child, both before and immediately after the death, and other sources such as:
- Case summaries from health records
- Case information from police,
- Children’s Social Care and Education
- Post mortem reports.
A data base of all child deaths since April 2007 is held by the Local Safeguarding Children Board. Information gathered is used to inform strategic planning by the LSCB, working to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
When a child dies outside of the area in which s/he normally resides, the statutory responsibility for conducting the review lies with the LSCB where the child normally resides. In this circumstance, the Child Death Overview Panel Chairs from any other LSCBs that have an interest in the case should agree how learning from the review/s will be shared across the involved areas.
If it is unclear in which Child Death Overview Panel area the child normally resided (e.g. cases of shared care arrangements crossing local authority boundaries), the relevant CDOP Chairs should negotiate and agree who will lead the review. Timescales should not be allowed to slip while this agreement is being reached – therefore until any dispute is resolved, the case must be treated as the responsibility of the LSCB in whose area the child was last known to have been alive.
If a looked after child dies, the LSCB for the local authority with statutory responsibility for the child has lead responsibility for conducting the review.
The examination of unexpected deaths is a separate process from the conducting of a Serious Case Review. If the criteria for a Serious Case Review are met at any point in the response to the unexpected death i.e. there are concerns of abuse or neglect, the Serious Case Review process will take precedence and must be followed.
