Safeguarding the young.

Abstract

Victoria Climbie was just eight years old when she died in 2000, the victim of appalling and sustained abuse. The Inquiry (Department of Health (DoH) 2003) into her death revealed no fewer than 12 occasions when local services had the chance to protect her and failed to do so. Reviews into cases where children have been let down by services, for example, the Caleb Ness case in Scotland, often identify similar concerns: ❘❚❘ poor communication and information sharing between professionals and agencies; ❘❚❘ inadequate training and support for staff; and ❘❚❘ a failure to listen to children. In his report Lord Laming highlighted particular concerns about the low priority accorded to the protection of children and young people and strongly criticised people in senior positions who failed to acknowledge responsibility for what occurred. The majority of the 108 recommendations centred on establishing basic good practice, with the overall aim of improving accountability for child protection. On the day The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report was released, checklists of relevant practice recommendations were sent by the secretaries of state to all 625 NHS organisations and 150 councils with social services responsibilities in England. All 43 police forces in England and Wales also received them. The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) were asked to audit the implementation of these recommendations across respective organisations.