Serious Case Reviews

Regional Safeguarding Children Boards (RSCB) are required to undertake a Serious Case Review where abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected

An RSCB may undertake a Serious Case Review when a child dies, sustains a potentially life-threatening injury or serious and permanent impairment of health or development, committed suicide ot the child has been killed by a parent with a mental illness.

The purpose of Serious Case Reviews is to identify steps that might be taken to prevent a similar death or harm occurring.

Serious Case Reviews are not enquiries into how the child died or who is culpable, that is a matter for Coroners and Criminal Courts respectively to determine, as appropriate. Serious Case Reviews are completed with contributions from relevant agencies and written by an independent Overview Author. Recommendations are made by the Overview Author and presented to the LSCB, who take responsibility for developing an Action Plan. 

In working transparently, the RSCB also commissions the Overview Author to prepare an anonymised Executive Summary for each Serious Case Review.