INDEPENDENT REVIEW INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCES
SURROUNDING THE DEATH OF DANIELLE REID
Issue date:
THE Highland Child Protection Committee today
(Tuesday) published the long-awaited report by Dr Jean Herbison, consultant
paediatrician and lead clinician for child protection, Glasgow NHS Board, into
the circumstances surrounding the death of 5 year old Danielle Mary Louise Reid
in
Ian Latimer, Chairman of the Highland Child
Protection Committee, who commissioned the report in April 2003, noted that Dr
Herbison concludes that ‘there is little doubt that the violent death of this 5
year old girl was not directly preventable by any of the individuals concerned’.
He said: “In relation to national standards,
policies and procedures,
He further stated: “Dr Herbison makes 68
recommendations that cover 23 issues. A
total of 81 separate actions have been taken since 2002 to address these
issues, and a further 36 actions have been initiated and are ongoing.
“Three recommendations remain outstanding,
including a central helpline and a co-ordinated multi-agency audit, and form
part of the present Child Protection Workplan which will be fully implemented
by September of this year.”
He stressed that many of Dr Herbison’s
recommendations do not relate specifically to Danielle’s death or child
protection services in Highland, but to her belief that there needs to be a
national ‘change in our thinking about vulnerable children’. She states that
Mr Latimer added: “We note Dr Herbison’s
conclusion that this tragic death could not have been prevented by individuals
employed by
With regard to Dr Herbison’s call for a change in
national policy and legislation, he said: “The balance between managing risk by
supervision and monitoring of behaviour and intrusion into family life is for
wider society to form a view on, and for Government to legislate and set
policy.
“These are matters which exceed the remits of the
Arthur McCourt, Chief Executive of The Highland
Council, said the report from Dr Jean Herbison, would be considered by the
Council at its next meeting on 4 May.
He said: "It is important in tragic events
like this, that the activities of our public agencies are subject to
independent review and that the outcome is made public. It is also important
that we learn lessons to prevent a recurrence of a tragedy like this.”
Mr McCourt confirmed that the Council had conducted
its own management review, covering all the contacts the Council had with
Danielle and her family. This review had flagged up improvements that could be
made in practice, including changes to procedures regarding the transfer of
pupils from one school to another. He
welcomed the prompt action of the Executive, which had recently introduced a
national system for co-ordinating checks on children missing from education,
including a single identifier for every child.
Mr McCourt said: “With the HMIe child protection
inspection, and a range of other inspections and audits, our services have come
under considerable scrutiny in recent years.
Over this period, we have increased our workforce, refined policies and
procedures and enhanced training. Our staff do an
extremely difficult and challenging job very well and merit our full support.”
He noted that, while Dr Herbison concluded that no
individuals could have prevented Danielle’s death, she was critical of the
adequacy of checks undertaken by Social Work Services, in response to a
telephone call from a family member a year prior to Danielle’s death, in
November 2001.
Checks were made at that time with Danielle’s nursery
and health services, but no check was made with the police and no home visit
undertaken.
Mr McCourt stated:
“The Council has taken measures to ensure that checks are made with
police and that a home visit, which includes seeing the child, is made in every
case where significant concerns are raised about the safety of a child.”
Chief Executive of NHS Highland, Dr Roger Gibbins,
expressed the view of staff and managers across all Highland agencies: “Although there was nothing any of my staff
could have done to prevent Danielle’s tragic death, we can’t be complacent and
this report supports the approach we have been taking over the last few years
to improve child protection in the Highlands.
“We have already implemented, or are in the process
of implementing, all of the recommendations relating to the NHS. When they looked at our arrangements last
year, HMIe Inspectors found the professionals from NHS Highland intervene
appropriately to prevent abuse or neglect where there are risks in families. They also confirmed that effective help was
also provided to children and young people recovering from abuse or
neglect."
The HMIE Report is currently available at
www.northern.police.uk
under “Child Protection Report 2005”
Dr Jean Herbison’s 196-page report, together with a
40-page response from the Child Protection Committee to the Scottish Executive,
is available on Protecting Highland's Children website: http://www.protectinghighlandschildren.org/htm/hcpc.php
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