Child Death Overview Panel

The functions of the CDOP include:

• Reviewing all child deaths, excluding those babies who are stillborn and planned terminations of pregnancy carried out within the law.
• Collecting and collating information on each child and seeking relevant information from professionals and, where appropriate, family members.
• Discussing each child’s case and providing relevant information or any specific actions related to individual families to those professionals who are involved directly with the family so that they, in turn, can convey this information in a sensitive manner to the family.
• Determining whether the death was deemed preventable, that is, those deaths in which modifiable factors may have contributed to the death and decide what, if any, actions could be taken to prevent future such deaths.
• Making recommendations to the Partnership or other relevant bodies promptly so that action can be taken to prevent future such deaths where possible.
• Identifying patterns or trends in local data and reporting these to the Partnership.
• Where a suspicion arises that neglect or abuse may have been a factor in the child’s death, referring a case back to the Partnership Independent Scrutineer for consideration of whether a Serious Case Review/Rapid Review is required.
• Agreeing local procedures for responding to unexpected deaths of children.
• Cooperating with regional and national initiatives – for example, with the National Clinical Outcome Review Programme – to identify lessons on the prevention of child deaths.

In reviewing the death of each child, the CDOP should consider modifiable factors, for example, in the family environment, parenting capacity or service provision, and consider what action could be taken locally and what action could be taken at a regional or national level.