What is a Serious Child Safeguarding Incident and what reviews are needed and when
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Serious Child Safeguarding Incident (SCSI) is where a child has died or been seriously harmed, and abuse or neglect is known or suspected. The local authority must notify the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel if there is a SCSI within their area, or involving a child who is normally resident in the local authority’s area but the incident has occurred whilst the child is outside of England. They must also notify the local safeguarding Statutory Partners (Local Authority, Health and Police). In Leeds this is the Leeds Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) Executive.
Rapid Review
Following the notification of a SCSI to the National Child Safeguarding Panel and the Statutory Partners there is a requirement for the Statutory Partners to undertake a Rapid Review within 15 working days of the notification. A Rapid Review is a multi-agency process which considers the circumstances of a SCSI. The purpose of the Rapid Review is to identify and act upon immediate learning, and consider if there is additional learning which could be identified through a wider Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR).
Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR)
If the Rapid Review identifies that there is further learning from a particular incident which has not been fully identified and explored through the Rapid Review, the LSCP must commission a Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR). The purpose of a CSPR is to explore how practice can be improved through changes to the system itself.
In addition the LSCP has a duty to identify and review serious child safeguarding cases which, in their view, raise issues of importance in relation to their area. This may be in the form of a CSPR or another review process. The final decision with regards to initiating a CSPR lies with the LSCP Executive.
Why do we have Rapid Reviews and CSPRs
The purpose of Rapid Reviews and CSPRs is to identify lessons that require improvements to be made to policies, procedures and practice. Reviews are not ends in themselves; lessons must be used to improve practice, manage risks better and enhance outcomes for children and young people. The reviews focus on systems and how agencies work together to safeguard children and young people although the actions of individuals may come under scrutiny.
In Leeds, how is learning from reviews disseminated
All identified learning from a review is disseminated to practitioners in a number of different ways including through briefings, inclusion within training, and development of
learning sheets. Agencies are asked to ensure that learning is widely disseminated within their agencies.
What happens when a Rapid Review is carried out
Partner agencies will be asked to provide information they have with regards to their interactions with the child and their family, and specifically in relation to the SCSI. This will be considered by the LSCP Review Advisory Group (RAG) which will allow them to consider learning and make a recommendation as to whether or not further learning would be identified through a CSPR.
The final decision with regards to initiating a CSPR lies with the LSCP Executive, and following the recommendation from the LSCP RAG they will consider the information and make a final decision.
The LSCP must notify the National Child Safeguarding Panel of the outcome of the Rapid Review within the 15 working day timeframe.
What happens when a CSPR is carried out
Safeguarding Children Partnerships have autonomy on how they undertake a review, although there is guidance as to what a review should consider and what is included within the final report. A review is written by an independent author who has had no involvement in the case or the agencies who are taking part within the review. A review panel would normally support the review process and would be made up of representatives from the agencies who had involvement with the child and / or families the review is focusing on.
Safeguarding Children Partnerships have a duty to publish completed reviews on their website and the NSPCC Repository, unless it is considered a further safeguarding risk to the child or other family members. This is done anonymously in order to ensure confidentiality.
Practitioners are invited to be part of the review, and often through learning days known as Practitioner Events. These allow practitioners to explore the learning from the review and consider actions or changes in practice based upon their experience as practitioners working directly with children, young people and families.
Families, and where appropriate children, are also invited to be part of the review process. They are informed of the review as it is commissioned and will be asked to contribute as the review progresses. The review will also be shared with them at the end of the process prior to publication.
Once a review is complete and learning has been identified, an action plan is developed in conjunction with the agencies who took part in the review. This is to identify how the learning will be translated into changes in practice.
More information
The
LSCP website provides information all multi-agency review process in Leeds and the
learning from multi-agency reviews.
The
NSPCC website hosts the national repository for CSPRs (and the reviews which were known as Serious Case Reviews).
The National Safeguarding Panel publish an annual report as well as undertaking national reviews based on reoccurring themes.
