CHILD DEATH
Children under eighteen
The death of any child is a tragedy. It is vital that all child deaths are
carefully reviewed. This is so that we may learn as much as possible from
them, to try to prevent future deaths, and to support families.
If your child had a long-term illness or life-limiting condition, and death
was anticipated or inevitable, it is likely that your family and the team
supporting you will have made an appropriate ‘care pathway’ together.
This might include an end-of-life care plan for your child.
Local health care staff or others such as hospice or hospital staff should
work with you and your family to support you.
If you have any questions about
the review you can contact:
Julieann Exley,
Safeguarding Service Manager,
Community Paediatrics,
LG1 Children's Hospital, The
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
OX3 9DU
Phone: 01865 231974.
It may be necessary for the coroner to arrange a post mortem
examination. Otherwise, you should be able to register your child’s death
quickly and proceed with your family’s planned funeral and memorial
arrangements.
An unexpected death is often sudden. Unexpected means not expected
in the 24 hours before the death or before the event that led to
the death. The death may have no obvious cause, such as Sudden
Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) sometimes referred to as SUDI, or
the cause might be clear, such as an accident.
The law requires that all sudden and unexpected deaths be reported to
the coroner and the police. A ‘rapid response’ process will begin.
For both expected and unexpected deaths, doctors, nurses and others
involved with your child will talk to each other to establish the facts
about why your child died. They should also offer support to you. They
will consider how the procedures at the time of death and afterwards
were managed.
You may not get feedback from each and every one of these discussions,
but you can get advice from your local contact listed below.
The death of all children under the age of 18 must be reviewed by a
Child Death Overview Panel on behalf of the Local Safeguarding Children
Board. The Child Death Overview Panels are groups of professionals who
meet several times a year to review all the child deaths in their area. The
main purpose is to learn how to try and prevent future deaths.
The Panels make recommendations and report on the lessons learned
to the Local Safeguarding Children Board. The Board produces an annual
report which is a public document. Anyone can read the report, but it
contains no details that could identify an individual child or their family.
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ADVICE AND HELPLINE: 0845 129 5900
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