Medical needs were not picked up

THIS review concerned a boy who died of complications associated with diabetes three months before his 18th birthday.

Concern was expressed that the boy’s medical needs were not picked up by the social work department, and the review found that communication gaps were not acceptable.

The young person in question had been known to the child protection services during the six months prior to his death.

While the review did not find any lack of compliance with procedures, it found that the communication issues which had implications for C’s physical wellbeing would have similar implications for other vulnerable young people living in the community with chronic health conditions.

The report said it was “unacceptable” that an initial standard reporting form went missing.

“It is not within the remit of this review to evaluate the practices of hospital services or general medical practitioners, but the lack of co-ordination of services for young people with diabetes was an obvious matter for concern and the lacuna between information held by medical services and its availability to children and family services prior to their embarking on an initial assessment was demonstrated in this case,” the report said.

The recommendations state that HSE Children and Family Services should adopt a screening tool to highlight particular issues — such as chronic illness in a child or young person or previous contact with child and adolescent mental health services — which may inform and expedite the process of initial assessment.

It was recommended that children and family services should introduce mechanisms for the sharing of information between services within the limitations imposed by data protection legislation.

The report concluded that local areas need to improve strategies for the exchange and recording of information between areas where it concerns children or young people who are vulnerable or at risk.