Pan Berkshire Child Death Overview Panel

There is a statutory requirement to review all deaths of children normally resident in the local area who die before their 18th birthday. The legislation and guidance is:

• Children Act 2004
• Children and Social Work Act 2017
• Working together to safeguard children 2018
• Child death review: statutory and operational guidance

These reviews should be carried out through a Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP).

The purpose of this process is to understand how and why children die and to learn from these events to reduce the number of children who die in the future.

Child death review partners

The statutory child death review partners (CDR partners) for Berkshire are:

• Bracknell Forest Council
• Reading Borough Council
• Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
• Slough Borough Council
• West Berkshire Council
• Wokingham Borough Council
• BOB (Berkshire West, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire) ICB
• Frimley ICB

Joint Agency Response

Consideration of a Joint Agency Response should take place each time a child dies. A joint decision should be taken as to whether it is required.

A response should be triggered if a child’s death:

• is or could be due to external causes
• is sudden and there is no immediately apparent cause including Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood (SUDIC)
• occurs in custody, or where the child was detained under the Mental Health Act
• where the initial circumstances raise any suspicions that the death may not have been natural
• is a stillbirth where no healthcare professional was in attendance

Each ICB has it's own protocol to follow.

Frimley ICB

This covers children in Bracknell Forest, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead.

BOB ICB

This covers children in Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham.

National Child Mortality Database

The National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) allows detailed strategic analysis and interpretation of the data arising from the complete Child Death Review process across England.

CDOPs must submit copies of their data and analysis to the NCMD. This local data has allowed the NCMD to conduct national analysis and produce a variety of reports and findings. 

They make sure that learning from the reviews of child deaths is shared, with the aim of saving lives. 

Pan Berkshire CDOP newsletter

The CDOP produce newsletters giving updates and advice on how to keep children safe. You can download the most recent newsletter below.