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Death of a child

The death or serious injury of any child is a difficult and traumatic event. If the child is open to Children's Social Care then there are immediate actions that need to take place in order to ensure that everyone who needs to know is aware as soon as possible and any remaining children are protected.

Throughout these processes the central focus should be on the welfare of any remaining children, the parents and family and staff who worked with the child and family. The responsible line manager should meet with each member of staff to advise them of the death, reflect on the impact of the death on the worker, and consider how best the family and the worker can be supported.

Where a death was expected

All agencies working with the child may choose to organise a case review meeting to establish whether lessons can be learned to inform work with other young people in similar situations. Such a review meeting should be held using the structure of any other professionals meeting. Minutes from the meeting can be provided to the local Child Death Overview Panel to evidence good local practice as well as inviting input from others into the review process.

If the child was in care, please also follow the Death of a Child in Care procedure.

Unexpected deaths

The following pathway sets out the actions for the Local Authority whenever information is received a child has died unexpectedly, and

The following pages then set out the process in more detail.

 

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