Child death

What to do in the event of a Child's Death

The deaths of all babies / children under 18 years resident in Gloucestershire, regardless of where the death took place, should be notified to the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Executive using the online Notification Form which can be accessed by clicking here

Deaths of children not normally resident in the Gloucestershire area and who die here should also be notified using this link. This information will be passed onto the relevant Panel who will then coordinate the information.

For advice and information please contact the Executive Safeguarding Support Unit either by email to [email protected] or by telephone 01452 426228.

For advice about how to support pupils and members of staff following a child death at an educational setting please contact Georgina Summers, Safeguarding Officer (Education) 01452 42 6221.

All Local Safeguarding Children Boards have a statutory duty to hold a review whenever a child dies.

The Child Death Review (CDR) process is designed to ensure Local Safeguarding Children Partners are in a position to learn any lessons there might be from the unexpected death of a child or young person. Further it is understood that when a child dies those left grieving; parents, siblings, other family members, friends and acquaintances, will need extra support and a good understanding as to what caused the loss of their loved one. The child death review process is designed to help with providing the appropriate support to families and schools to gain information about why children die. There are two aspects to a CDR.

A rapid response by a group of key professionals who come together for the purpose of enquiring into and evaluating each unexpected death of a child.
An overview of all child deaths in the Local Safeguarding Children Partners area (in this case the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Executive area), undertaken by a panel.