The tragic circumstances around the death of Baby P in London have raised awareness of the importance of a multi-agency approach to child protection.

Yeovil District Hospital treats child protection as a high priority and recently organised a conference entitled "When a Child Dies…". The conference focussed on the recently published 'Child Death Review' which recommends that all the organisations involved in the care of a child meet after any death to undertake a full review and analysis of the situation in order that any areas are identified where improvements can be made.

The event was chaired by Dr Meridith Kane, the consultant paediatrician responsible for child protection at Yeovil District Hospital. Dr Kane said: "The aim of the conference was to spread awareness of the issues that may surround and impact on the death of a child and how organisations are working together to ensure services are improved."

Speakers included Somerset's Designated Doctor for Child Protection Dr Tamsyn Nicole and representatives from organisations across the region who provide and contribute to children's health services.

They were: Professor Elizabeth Towner, Professor of Child Health from the University of the West of England speaking about childhood injuries and accident prevention; Anne Allen, Nurse Consultant for Safeguarding Children who spoke about learning lessons from serious case reviews; Carrie Langford from FSID (the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths) discussing how we respond to the sudden unexplained death of an infant; East Somerset Coroner, Tony Williams; Jenni Thomas OBE from Child Bereavement Charity; Jenni Shine from Charlton Farm Hospice and the COMPASS team who support families with terminally ill children.

Yeovil District Hospital
yeovilhospital.nhs