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tkmax76

Listed below are comments made by tkmax76 between Wednesday, 19th November 2008 and Wednesday, 19th November 2008.

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Baby P - It will happen again 05:25am on 19 Nov 2008 Matt, an excellent article.
Having worked for local authority for many years, and having worked with social services, they have an impossible job. They are understaffed, and the decisions which seem crystal clear in hindsight, are very difficult to know. Taking children away and into care is a serious matter, and one which opens up a whole new set of concerns.

Also, the number of agencies involved severly complicates matters. When informaiton is being passed between 5 overworked agencies, who all think differently about the best way to manage the situation, is it any wonder things fall through the gaps?

Schools, the NHS, the police and councils need to work together. There is already legislation for this, the crime and disorder reduciton act more than covers this obligation for information sharing. The problem is that there is no one method for storing information, or one database for passing informaiton. This is how the Soham case slipped through the gaps. If an offender spells their name incorrectly, their record will not be picked up.

Government needs to invest in the IT and database systems that will make this informaiton sharing possible. People on the register for any reason (ie vulnerable, offender, at risk) need to be identifyable no matter which borough they move to. For this to happen, we need a single identifyer number that cannot be faked.

And, people at the top must be held accountable. Whilst I really do have some sympathy for Haringay officers and the doctor who missed the broken spine, for this time must be hell for them as well, without accountability for outcomes and not just targets, this will continue to happen as people meet the target and miss the point.

And finally, the public who are all so outraged need to make sure they do not conveniently choose not see the signs in their neighbours. This is happening in an estate or a flat near you. If you saw it would you report it? I think the people who protest the loudest, especially for some kind of punishment for all involved, should really ask themselves whether they would be prepared to shop their next door neighbour for a bruise on a child.

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