Forum Brief: Climbie report

The government has announced a series of reforms aimed at preventing a repeat of the tragic death of Victoria Climbie.

The health secretary said that he would deliver "fundamental reform" of the health and social services available to children.

Forum Response: General Social Care Council

Rodney Brooke, chairman of the General Social Care Council, said: "The death of Victoria Climbie and the circumstances surrounding it are terrible and shocking.

"The social care world is changing fast. Many of those changes were put in train before Victoria's murder and are still coming on stream - but they are changes which in the next few years will considerably improve public protection and reduce the risk of this happening again.

"For example, we now have a code of practice for social care workers and employers. Some of the mistakes and problems that happened in this case and others before it are explicitly addressed in those codes of practice. For example, the code requires all social care workers to work in partnership with other agencies, as well as setting out the responsibilities of both workers and employers to ensure the delivery of high quality care.

"In addition, from this year, qualifying training for social workers will be a GSCC-approved degree that will deliver training in inter-professional working in a wide range of multi-disciplinary environments. And it will also place a much stronger emphasis on practical, work experience-based training."And in the future, we will have a register of social care workers. Workers who breach our code of practice could be removed from the register. In this way, any person found to be unsuitable would be prevented from working in social care."Social care is changing, in recognition of the important, life-sustaining work that social care workers do. Over the next few years, the GSCC will make a major contribution to raising standards in the interests of service users and the public.

"And it is right that we will champion the vital work done by so many committed social care workers. For society relies on skilled, dedicated social care workers. The tragic death of Victoria reveals just how much we rely on workers and managers to do their jobs well in order to save children from abuse and death."

Forum Response: Barnardo's

Dr Chris Hanvey, UK director of operations at Barnardo's, said: "It is still possible for social workers to qualify and apply for posts in children's services without undertaking any detailed training on work with vulnerable children.

"We must recognise that child protection work is skilled, highly stressful and requires years of experience - and allocate the priority, resources and support necessary to slow - if not stop- the constant tide of child deaths. The current situation of staff shortages and many departments operating with high numbers of overworked, inexperienced and locum staff can only lead to further tragedies.

"However, in the rush to allocate blame in the wake of a tragedy like the death of Victoria Climbie, it would be easy to forget that it is not social workers, or other professionals, who abuse and kill children. Most often it is their parents or others in a position of trust and responsibility for their care and protection.

"The establishment of a Children's Commissioner for England - ideally with devolved powers to regional offices or local ombudsmen - could play a vital role in providing an independent voice for children, not biased or influenced by issues of resource allocation or political difference. Child protection would be a key element of this brief, not least in monitoring implementation of recommendations from inquiries such as that of Lord Laming.

"We can never absolutely ensure the protection of all children - particularly from those who have a direct responsibility for their care and yet cause them harm. But there is no doubt that assigning much higher priority to child protection services, spreading the net of awareness and responsibility much wider and adding an independent voice for children would see many spared traumatic and sometimes life-threatening abuse and neglect."

Forum Response: The Children's Society

Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of The Children's Society, said: "The Children's Society welcomes Lord Laming's wide-reaching recommendations to ensure that children will never again be failed in the way that Victoria Climbie was.

"But for this to succeed, we need to turn our culture on its head to put children and children's rights at the heart or our society so that they are not just seen, they are also heard.

"This is why we want to see a children's rights commissioner, and the charity welcome the recognition given by Lord Laming of the need for a national children's champion.

"The charity supports Laming's recommendation that a child who is referred to social services need to be spoken to by professionals within 24 hours and that the child's case cannot be closed unless the child has been listened to. The Children's Society agrees that there needs to be an interpreter whenever English is not the child's first language."

Forum Response: Royal College of Nursing

A spokeswoman for The Royal College of Nursing, said: "The Royal College of Nursing has warmly welcomed Lord Laming's report to improve child protection in England, following the publication of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry. Nurses across the country have been affected by the nature of this tragedy.

"The RCN welcomes the recommendations to improve training among staff in health and social care. Nurses are at the frontline of child health care. All nurses need appropriate training to recognise child protection issues and to support families. Designated and named child protection nurses are key in assessing training needs. The RCN would expect to be involved in this review of training across professions and agencies.

"The RCN is aware that children's services are a low priority in many health services. It is therefore crucial that every health trust has a designated or named child protection nurse. Ensuring that children's services remain a priority is vital. Ensuring that nurses are able to provide protection for children is just as important. The RCN will be working with its 355,000 members to promote a longer-term integrated strategy for children and young people."

Forum Response: Local Government Association

Councillor Alison King, chair of the Local Government Association social affairs and health executive, said: "The vast majority of children are protected from significant harm by key agencies, according to the recent Joint Inspectorates Report. The LGA firmly believes that preventing harm to children and protecting children at risk must go hand in hand. Separating these two services would be counterproductive.

"As part of the continuous programme of improvement, councils are developing new ways of working with the NHS, the Police and those working in education and the voluntary sector. It is also vital that members of the public help these agencies when they suspect a child is at risk of harm. Councils must open their structures and create an appropriate environment for neighbours, shopkeepers, teachers and others to come forward if they have concerns.

"Thirty-five councils are currently piloting a new model for delivering children services called Serving children well2. Developed by the LGA, NHS Confederation, Association of Directors in Social Services, Association of Chief Education Officers and ConfED it aims to build on the principle that partnership is the key to providing effective services that will improve the lives of children and describes how local areas should co-ordinate and plan to meet the needs of children. The model puts improved outcomes for children at the heart of its approach.

"Lord Laming's Inquiry will represent a significant turning point in the prevention of harm to children and will assist councils to build on their current improvement strategies. All agencies with responsibility for protecting and preventing harm to children must continue to improve how they work, how they interact and how quickly they respond to suspicions of child abuse. Councils have made significant improvements in recent years and will continue to do so."