Following the death of a four-year-old child on 19 June 2009, Newport Safeguarding Children Board conducted a Serious Case Review which has been published today.
The report was conducted following guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government to establish what lessons could be learned about the way local professionals and agencies work together in relation to this case and make recommendations accordingly.
Newport City Council is one of the agencies involved in the report which concludes, ‘the death of child 1 would appear to be a sad, tragic event, which could not have been predicted or prevented by any specific action or intervention from any of the agencies.’
Chair of Newport Safeguarding Children Board, Stewart Greenwell, said: “The death of this four-year-old in June 2009 was a tragic event and once again I would like to express my condolences to the family.
“These were clearly a set of unfortunate circumstances that no one could have foreseen. There were some shortcomings from a number of services in their contact with the family but it is encouraging that all agencies have accepted the recommendations and are already implementing the necessary changes.”
The report identifies that there were a number of good practices with the family during their time in Newport. The report states that even if the child’s mother had received a full psychiatric assessment in the autumn of 2006 followed by appropriate diagnosis and treatment, it is impossible to state in retrospect whether this would have reduced the likelihood of the mother harming her child.
The review was conducted and the final report written by Dr Howell Edwards and agencies that contributed to the Serious Case Review were: London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham Children & Families Service, Newport City Council Children and Families Service, Education Service and Housing Service Newport City Council, Aneurin Bevan Health Board, Gwent Police, Newport Homestart, Newport Sure Start, and Newport Women’s Aid.
The report outlines 24 recommendations and Newport Safeguarding Children Board will monitor to ensure these are completed.
Stewart Greenwell said: “With regard to the recommendations specific to Newport City Council, all of the necessary work has commenced and there have already been substantial reductions in the average caseloads of social workers in the front-line children service teams.
“In addition, both better support and training for newly qualified social workers in their first year after training has been put in place.
“One of the recommendations makes it clear how essential it is that information is shared between services in order that everyone understands where children are likely to be at risk. Guidance and training is being provided to ensure that everyone understands the need to share information, to record what has been shared, while balancing that, where appropriate, with protecting the confidentiality of the individuals concerned.”
