The report by the child safeguarding practice review panel on the deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson is admirably balanced. It avoids blaming individuals and sticks to its remit of setting out lessons to be learned (Review calls for child protection overhaul in England after two deaths, 26 May). A key lesson is that the more forensic aspects of safeguarding work should be taken over by specialist multi-agency safeguarding teams.
But while the report briefly refers to issues of stretched resources, heavy caseloads and poor supervision, much more could have been made of the stress, anxiety, fears and disgust felt by many social workers, which reviews have highlighted as crucial barriers to change.
Many reports have concentrated too much on procedural issues at the expense of more emotional ones, and many of the changes made over the years have failed to make a difference.
Child safeguarding is a complex and emotionally demanding task that is not amenable to merely administrative solutions.
I fear that the changes this report recommends will not be gamechangers unless more is done to create organisations where errors can be admitted to and learned from and where workers’ feelings – which can distort vital decision-making – are addressed through support and supervision. This would require a cultural change that goes well beyond just creating specialist teams and making procedural changes.
David Saltiel
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire