Safeguarding Practice Reviews

This page contains relevant information and guidance relating to case reviews published by the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Under Working Together, Safeguarding Partnerships are required to undertake a Rapid Review for serious child safeguarding cases where:

• abuse or neglect of a child is suspected and
• the child has died or been seriously harmed.

Rapid Review

The purpose of a Rapid Review is to:

• gather the facts about the child’s experience as far as they can be readily established, including details of agency involvement and an analysis of key practice episodes.
• discuss whether any immediate action is needed to ensure children’s safety and share any learning appropriately.
• consider the potential for identifying improvements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
• understand the context of children’s and families’ lives including how inequalities and factors such as racism, ableism and other protected characteristics may have influenced children’s and families’ experiences and the quality of practice.
• decide what steps safeguarding partners should take next, including whether to undertake a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR).

All agencies who have been involved with the subject child or family will be required to contribute to the Rapid Review. An initial scoping of agencies’ intervention will, therefore, need to be completed and other relevant information will need to be rapidly gathered.

To support this, agencies are asked to produce an Individual Agency Summary.

• Template Individual Agency Summary form

The purpose of the initial scoping and information sharing is to gather the basic facts about the case, including determining the extent of agency involvement with the child and family.

More detailed information will be sought if the Rapid Review concludes the case has the potential to identify national or local learning and a decision is made to recommend a Child Safeguarding Practice Review, or an alternative Learning Review.

The flowchart below details the process for referring to the Devon SCP for consideration for a case review.

Although any agency can refer a case, all notifications to the Ofsted and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel must come from the Local Authority; you must liaise between your agency lead and the Children’s Services Safeguarding Manager before a referral is accepted.

Once the Local Authority notifies Ofsted, this becomes a Rapid Review referral.

• Rapid Review referral flowchart

Responsibilities

The responsibility for learning lessons from serious child safeguarding incidents lies with the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel at a national level and safeguarding partners at a local level (local authorities, chief officers of police and clinical commissioning groups).

Within Devon, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group (CSPRG) leads this work at a local level. The group’s purpose is:

• to improve outcomes for children, safeguarding them and promoting their welfare by ensuring a timely and high-quality response in all cases referred for consideration.
• to contribute to the development of a practice culture characterised by high support/high challenge.
• to commission/undertake Rapid Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and/or other reviews as required under Working Together 2023.
• to liaise with the National Panel as required.

Devon Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews

Below are links to the most recent Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews published by the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership.

• Child Safeguarding Practice Review – An appreciative inquiry into learning barriers and challenges following a review of the death of Child Jody
• Child Safeguarding Practice Review – Devon & Lancashire – A child-centred review of learning, barriers and challenges following a review of the significant harm suffered by Child Sydney (full report)

Rapid Review briefings

Adolescents

• Learning briefing: Ricki – Adolescent’s safety and care
• Learning briefing: Morgan – Substance abuse death
• Learning briefing: Riley – Teenage suicide

Complex needs

• Learning briefing: Jamie – Complex needs
• Learning briefing: Baby K – Children with complex needs and neglect

Neglect

• Learning briefing: Child A and Child B – Neglect
• Learning briefing: Jan – Neglect
• Learning briefing: Quinn – Neglect
• Learning briefing: Neglect September 2024

Physical harm

• Learning briefing: Ashley – Baby with physical injuries
• Learning briefing: Ashton – Child death baby under 1
• Learning briefing: Avery – Child death baby under 1
• Learning briefing: Ed – Non-accidental injury to infant
• Learning briefing: Baby F – Non-accidental injury to infant
• Learning briefing: Harley – Non-accidental injury
• Learning briefing: Infant B – Non-accidental injury

You may also be interested in referring to our thematic review learning briefings.

Visit the NSPCC website to access a list of newly published and Child Safeguarding Practice Review reports from other LSCBs and Partnerships.

Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Briefings and Reports

• Briefing note – Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson
• Webinar – Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson
• Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Annual Report 2023-24

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