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Ten missed chances to save a baby's life
EXCLUSIVE A DAMNING report into the death of a baby known only as 'Baby A' has revealed a "chaotic and dangerous" situation within Doncaster social services.
The ten-month-old boy's death in December last year was attributed to natural causes but a full investigation was ordered because of concerns, later borne out by the report, that agencies failed to protect him.
It has emerged that the council's children and young people's service received TEN recorded referrals about the baby and his sibling - three of them in the weeks before Baby A died.
The Serious Case Review into the tragedy is the first of a series of such reports due to be published after THREE horrifying cases of babies found dead or murdered in Doncaster within six months.
Baby A died within days of the murder of 16-month-old Amy Howson at the hands of her father in Edlington, and three-month-old Alfie Goddard was murdered by his father in Toll Bar in May.
The report on Baby A makes 16 recommendations - some so urgent that they have to be carried out within the month. The council has not taken any disciplinary or capability action against any member of staff.
And although the case follows the Haringey Baby P scandal - which resulted in national publicity and Government intervention - the Baby A report was published on the council's website more than a week ago without the public, press or councillors being alerted to it, which is apparently against guidelines.
Baby A was found by his 21-year-old mother in his pram, not breathing, and although a neighbour, ambulance and later hospital staff tried to rescusitate him he was pronounced dead at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
There was a history of domestic violence in his family and reports that his teenage father, a drug user who committed violent offences, had harmed either him or his older sibling, now aged three.
The council's children and young people's service received ten recorded referrals about the children, three in the weeks before Baby A died. A social worker did assess the case at one stage but closed it "with assurances by the mother being accepted without challenge".
The review labels the response "grossly inadequate" saying that social workers had unmanageable workloads, made worse by staff shortages, "both leading to and resulting from a 'chaotic and dangerous' situation within the team concerned." Procedures involving hospital and community health staff were also criticised despite hospital workers raising concerns about the safety and welfare both Baby A and his sibling when they were born.
The family missed hospital and 22 GP appointments during the two-and-a-half-year period covered by the review. Baby A's brother was taken into casualty with an arm injury in January 2007 but it was not followed up.
In addition, police, youth offending and probation staff did not assess the risk to the children of reported cruelty to animals by the baby's father or his drug abuse.
Two months before Baby A died, police were called to his home after his father assaulted his mother but the welfare of the children, said to be asleep, was not "properly established".
Over the period covered by the review, only one check was made to establish if either of the children were on the child protection register when several concerns ought to have prompted the checks.
Following Baby A's death, the handling of his body was not "satisfactorily coordinated" by health and police staff and the post-mortem was conducted by a forensic pathologist alone rather than in conjunction with a paediatric pathologist as recommended in guidelines, although changes have since been made in the way unexpected child deaths are dealt with.
The review concludes that it is unknown whether there were any signs of a medical problem just before his death or if intervention could have saved him but he was not seen by any professionals.
The report does acknowledge that the council started work to address many issues at the end of 2007.
In response to the Baby A case, a spokeswoman for the Doncaster Safeguarding Children's Board said it had accepted all the recommendations and set in motion action plans to respond. She said care proceedings were "being progressed" in respect of his older sibling.
The Commission for Social Care Inspection and Ofsted are due to publish their annual performance assessment ratings for children's services by the end of the month.
To read more on this story click on links below:
www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/Social-workers-face-rising-tide.4782824.jp
www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/We39ve-made-changes-for-the.4781368.jp
www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/Could-he-have-been-stopped.4781408.jp
www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/Anger-as-leading-councillors-not.4781472.jp
www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/The-new-targets-that-social.4781523.jp
www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/Hospital-chief-voiced-concern-earlier.4781555.jp
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Friday 25 May 2012
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