Baby starved to death

[Osem]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8584853.stm

A 10-month-old baby boy is believed to have starved to death in north-west London despite being monitored by doctors and social workers.

[Mick Fisher]

His 29-year-old mother was arrested for child neglect but died of an illness two days later, police said.

"As far as I am aware, at least nine NHS professionals were working with the family and I hope that no stone will be left unturned to find out exactly why this child died.

Why was a woman so desperately ill left to care for young children, presumably, alone? Were all these professionals deaf dumb and blind? I guess they all wrung their hands, made sympathetic noises, decided it was someone elses problem and walked away.

Here we go again. Isn't it obvious by now that our social services and our health system have serious flaws that urgently need addressing.

Everyone has learned enough damn lessons, it's some kind of action that is required.

[Jules]

Breaks your heart doesn't it

[Dai]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

Everyone has learned enough damn lessons, it's some kind of action that is required.

Once upon a time the local community cared about each other and would rally round to help someone that was ill or in need.

Then we got the marxist PC alternative. "The state will provide"

But they don't.

So kids die.

[candy1567]

Hi

I work for social services but in the adult field, but dont get me started on that one!!!!

We have had a number of children and families social workers come over to adults due to the pressures of the job, am not in anyway defending them and obviously cant comment in the case of the baby starved to death, but its all about govt targets and paperwork now, the art of being a hands on social worker has long since gone, and i speak from vast experience that u dont need a social work qualification to fill in the paperwork.

Your hands are tied, even thought gut instinct tells u there is somthing not right with a case u hav to follow procedure, yes its a different ball game with children rather than adults but the targets are the same.

Case loads are horrendous, u drown under paperwork and in my office we dont all have computers, yes thats right u share computers.

A more hands on approach is needed and life experience far outways any training u may take, and until we get away from targets then unfortunately ppl especially children are going to suffer.

The worse of it is that as now we have the social work degree, u can start the degree at 18yrs now and become fully qualified at 21yrs, am not sayin all 21yr olds are not capable of doing the job, but how much experience of raising children in the real world would they have, and most of our young social workers are on a restricted case load due to the pressures of the job, oh to be 21 again, a caseload of 10 would be a walk in the park compared to the 35 i have!!!!

Juliex

[Mick Fisher]

Bites tongue, moves on...............

[budwieser]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

Bites tongue, moves on...............

Ditto.

[iFrankie]

Originally Posted by candy1567

Hi

I work for social services but in the adult field, but dont get me started on that one!!!!

We have had a number of children and families social workers come over to adults due to the pressures of the job, am not in anyway defending them and obviously cant comment in the case of the baby starved to death, but its all about govt targets and paperwork now, the art of being a hands on social worker has long since gone, and i speak from vast experience that u dont need a social work qualification to fill in the paperwork.

Your hands are tied, even thought gut instinct tells u there is somthing not right with a case u hav to follow procedure, yes its a different ball game with children rather than adults but the targets are the same.

Case loads are horrendous, u drown under paperwork and in my office we dont all have computers, yes thats right u share computers.

A more hands on approach is needed and life experience far outways any training u may take, and until we get away from targets then unfortunately ppl especially children are going to suffer.

The worse of it is that as now we have the social work degree, u can start the degree at 18yrs now and become fully qualified at 21yrs, am not sayin all 21yr olds are not capable of doing the job, but how much experience of raising children in the real world would they have, and most of our young social workers are on a restricted case load due to the pressures of the job, oh to be 21 again, a caseload of 10 would be a walk in the park compared to the 35 i have!!!!

Juliex

all im saying is, another baby has been let down by "social workers".

[superbiatch]

Originally Posted by Frankie07

all im saying is, another baby has been let down by "social workers".

By reading the article, it came across more like NHS staff who let down this child and his mother (probably health visitors given the childs age and possibly GP surgery staff), so sad

[joglynne]

@ candy. I can only begin to feel the frustration you as an experienced Social worker must feel. I have a friend who was close to a breakdown a couple of years ago because of the pressure she was under to handle more and more cases. She used to work long hours, many of them unpaid, as she couldn't just turn her back on people who were at risk. She was constantly asking for help with her case load but her department was stretched to it's limits. The stress eventually wore her down to the point she had to resign, leaving her colleagues under even more pressure.

I wouldn't do your job for all the tea in China. I just wish there was a way to put more resources at the disposal of those at ground level who care more about people and less about targets and procedures.

[candy1567]

Hi joglynne

I understand how ur friend feels, to all the other posters i am totally with u on feeling utterly disgusted at the way this child was left to die, parents are totally responsible for their childs welfare till normally way beyone the 18yrs stage i know i have 2 of the little darlings!!!!

The point i was trying to make and maybe it didn't come across well is that a more hands on approach is needed instead of passing the buck and referring to other departments, everyone should sing from the same song sheet. Although children and families is not my chosen field i have worked in this department and the childs welfare as a whole should be handled to include education, medical, physical and emotional needs are being met, this is often not the case and signs and symptons are not passed on to relevant ppl.

Due to govt targets ppl dont get to spend the time and are not able to give the support which is so obviously needed, gut instincts and signs are ignored due to the internal pressures of the job, i know this is not an excuse but this happens on a daily basis an eg of this is i got verbally disciplined for not completing my end of the day visit chart, i explained that i had just had an emergency mental health assessment, which involved sectioning under the mental health act and securing them a place in a psychiatric unit and was filling in the mountain of paperwork. i was told yes i understand that but the govt needs these charts to see if we are hitting our targets of visits, wen i stated wat i think they could do with these charts as keeping a mentally ill person safe was far more important to me, i was given a verbal warning for not following company policy. MADNESS

Until all departments work together GP, social services, health visitors, care staff and hospitals ppl especially children will slip through the net. We have had numerous high profile cases especially victoria climbe and more recently Baby P, but lessons have not been learned the same mistakes are being made over and over again the govt are insisting that targets and reports are the way forward making sure Social Services have covered their tracks by filling in forms and statements, but that is not the way forward, u cant assess someone sitting in the office completing paperwork u need to be out there looking for signs, getting help and support and monitoring.

God sorry everyone for writing war and peace but i feel very pasionate about this at the end of the day its about everybody having a quality of life especially children if they have a bad start in live as they then grow up to maybe be very complicated adults!!!

[Osem]

Originally Posted by candy1567

Hi joglynne

I understand how ur friend feels, to all the other posters i am totally with u on feeling utterly disgusted at the way this child was left to die, parents are totally responsible for their childs welfare till normally way beyone the 18yrs stage i know i have 2 of the little darlings!!!!

The point i was trying to make and maybe it didn't come across well is that a more hands on approach is needed instead of passing the buck and referring to other departments, everyone should sing from the same song sheet. Although children and families is not my chosen field i have worked in this department and the childs welfare as a whole should be handled to include education, medical, physical and emotional needs are being met, this is often not the case and signs and symptons are not passed on to relevant ppl.

Due to govt targets ppl dont get to spend the time and are not able to give the support which is so obviously needed, gut instincts and signs are ignored due to the internal pressures of the job, i know this is not an excuse but this happens on a daily basis an eg of this is i got verbally disciplined for not completing my end of the day visit chart, i explained that i had just had an emergency mental health assessment, which involved sectioning under the mental health act and securing them a place in a psychiatric unit and was filling in the mountain of paperwork. i was told yes i understand that but the govt needs these charts to see if we are hitting our targets of visits, wen i stated wat i think they could do with these charts as keeping a mentally ill person safe was far more important to me, i was given a verbal warning for not following company policy. MADNESS

Until all departments work together GP, social services, health visitors, care staff and hospitals ppl especially children will slip through the net. We have had numerous high profile cases especially victoria climbe and more recently Baby P, but lessons have not been learned the same mistakes are being made over and over again the govt are insisting that targets and reports are the way forward making sure Social Services have covered their tracks by filling in forms and statements, but that is not the way forward, u cant assess someone sitting in the office completing paperwork u need to be out there looking for signs, getting help and support and monitoring.

God sorry everyone for writing war and peace but i feel very pasionate about this at the end of the day its about everybody having a quality of life especially children if they have a bad start in live as they then grow up to maybe be very complicated adults!!!

Well said!

My own experience with a disabled child has over the years demonstrated the lack of communication between the various departments we've come into contact with. In terms of his wellbeing, it's also highlighted that all too often the rules governing his treatment are designed primarily to ensure targets are met and prevent litigation as opposed to ensuring his welfare, some of the staff we deal with admit that and I'm sure most who work in these fields wish it were different.