Deaths in care linked to high referral rates and staff shortages

A report into the deaths of children either in care or known to the care services has referred to social work departments being under serious pressure with high referral rates and experiencing staff shortages that “inevitably impacted on their ability to provide a good quality service”.

The 2017 annual report by the National Review Panel (NRP), chaired by Helen Buckley, refers to 22 deaths of children and young people in care or known to the child protection system — four fewer than in the previous year. Eight of those deaths were as a result of natural causes and three others from suicide.