Death or Serious Injury to a Child (including Looked After / Child in Need)

Local authorities in England must notify the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (the Panel) within 5 working days of becoming aware of a serious incident.

Serious incidents which should be reported are those where the local authority knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected and:

• The child dies (including suspected suicide) or is seriously harmed in the local authority’s area;
• While normally resident in the local authority’s area, the child dies or is seriously harmed outside England.

The process for reporting a serious incident to the Panel via the Child Safeguarding Incident Notification System is set out in the following: Report A Serious Child Safeguarding Incident (GOV.UK). The Panel will share all notifications with Ofsted and the DfE.

The following tasks are required:

The child's social worker or, if not previously known to Children’s Social Care, the CFCS duty worker receiving the information will:

1. Immediately inform their line 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.
3. The line manager will immediately inform their Head of Service by telephone. The allocated social worker will complete a Need to Know Form as soon as possible, which must be signed off by the Head of Service.

The Head of Service will then:

1. Share the Need to Know form with the Assistant Director and Director of Children's Services, who will notify local authority members as necessary;
2. Ascertain as full details as possible from the Police and any other source;
3. Request their administrative staff to check Children's Services 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 in the correct office location;
5. Arrange to inform 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 Sutton Child Death Review Operating protocol and guidance which includes the arrangements to hold a Joint Agency Response (JAR) meeting with 48 hours, and a Rapid Review meeting within a 15 working day time scale for completion of the review:
   • The meeting is convened by the LSCP, and the Rapid Review should assemble the facts of the case as quickly as possible in order to establish whether there is any immediate action needed to ensure a child’s safety and consider whether there is potential for practice learning.
   • For the LSCP and safeguarding partners, the Rapid Review must conclude with a decision about whether or not a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review should be commissioned using the criteria set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children.

Local authorities should use the Child Safeguarding Incident Notification System to notify the Panel. In Sutton the LSCP Business Manager will submit this notification to the Panel and Ofsted. The Panel will share all notifications with Ofsted and the DfE. The report is submitted online and includes the details from the Rapid Review meeting, including whether to undertake a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) or recommend that a National Review is undertaken under the provision of Working Together. The form contains the name and date of birth of all children and parents in the household and the address. A copy of the completed form is held by the LSCP.

Before you start you will need:

• Your sign in;
• Your phone number and email address;
• Name of each child you are notifying;
• Details of the incident.

 A copy of the completed form should be saved and printed out for the records.

In urgent situations, the Assistant Director or Director of Children’s Services should telephone Ofsted on 0300 123 1231 and then complete the form. Email mailbox.nationalreviewpanel@education.gov.uk if you have any queries.

Once the national Panel has confirmed the decision to undertake a LCSPR, the LSCP will set up a Panel to oversee all aspects of the completion of the Review, including the appointment of the Reviewer and the approval of the Review prior to publication of the report on the LSCP website and the NSPCC case repository.

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

The child's social worker will:

1. Immediately inform their 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 in the event of sudden, unexplained deaths arrangements for the funeral need to be considered following the Joint Agency Response (JAR) meeting in consultation with the Specialist Nurse for Child Deaths (NHS), who will be assigned to support the family with the bereavement and practicalities;
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.

The line manager will:

1. Immediately inform the Designated Manager (Death of a Child) 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.

The Designated Manager (Death or Serious Injury to a Child) will:

1. Inform the Director of Children's Services, who will come to a decision about whether to notify the local authority Members;
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. Arrange, in consultation with the Safeguarding Manager, appropriate meetings under the London Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, including the need to hold a Rapid;
4. Additionally, whenever a Looked After Child dies, the local authority must inform the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel within 5 days using the Child Safeguarding Incident Notification System. This notification will be made by the LSCP Business Manager. The Panel will share all notifications with Ofsted and the DfE. The local authority must also notify the Secretary of State and Ofsted where a Looked After Child has died, whether or not abuse or neglect is known or suspected.

The report to the panel is the same as the previously outlined online report above. In the event of a Child Safeguarding Practice Review being required, the steps outlined in Section 3, Needs of Social Workers/Team/Manager/Carer should be followed.

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 workers/team/manager/carer(s) 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 Child Safeguarding Practice Review and the Health-led Child Death review processes;
• 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;
• The local policy for the employee assistance programme, which supports employees for any issues, can be found by accessing the Sutton Intranet.