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Every year over 5,000 children and young people in the UK die. Previous research suggests that 20-25% of these deaths may be preventable, and in comparison to many other European countries, the UK has higher child mortality rates. Child Death Review processes, introduced in the USA in the 1970s have been proposed as a means of learning from child deaths and driving prevention initiatives. Prior to 2008, the UK had no national system for reviewing and learning from children's deaths.
From 2006 to 2007, a team from Warwick Medical School led by Dr Peter Sidebotham undertook government-funded research examining a number of Local Authorities across England who had set up pilot Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs). The findings from this research were instrumental in developing national policy and procedures for child death reviews. The Warwick research emphasised the importance of a multi-agency approach to reviewing all child deaths, with a strong public health focus on learning lessons for prevention, and robust systems for notification and gathering information. This, together with other research by Warwick Medical School on fatal child maltreatment published between 2009 and 2011, has contributed to updated national policy and interagency practice to safeguard children.
Although it is too early in the process to demonstrate any impact on the ultimate goal of reducing preventable child deaths, CDOPs have now been established in every Local Authority in England, as well as an all-Wales panel, and current work in Scotland and Northern Ireland is considering how best to implement such reviews. These panels are reviewing all child deaths in England, resulting in local prevention initiatives, and national returns enabling a clearer picture of the nature of preventable child deaths.
A body of work from researchers in the Health, Social Care and Well-being Centre (HSCWBC) in the School, on the safety and well-being of vulnerable children and adults, has directly shaped three sets of policy and practice guidelines — from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Home Office. The research has been used as an evidence base to underpin the guidance required by health and social care practitioners. Such guidance contributes to frameworks for practice and as such are key to the role and function of these practitioners.
1. Between 2006-10 Open University (OU) researchers Aldgate and Rose worked with the Scottish government to develop a rights and research-based national framework, Getting it Right for Every Child. Significant parts of this framework have now been included in the Children and Young People Bill (2013), to become law in 2014. Aldgate's research into kinship care led to the introduction, in 2010, of allowances for children who are looked after within the kinship care system.
2. Rose also worked with the Welsh government to develop and implement a national framework for learning and reviewing child protection policy and practice. Statutory regulations were laid and statutory guidance was issued for their implementation from 1 January 2013.
These developments have attracted international interest.
Research at York undertaken by Bradshaw, Skinner, Corden and Davidson, directly influenced child support policy throughout the period 2008-2013, informing the radical change that abolished the Child Support Agency and returned child maintenance to the hands of parents to make private agreements under the `Child Maintenance and Other Payments' Act 2008. It also contributed to the decision to disregard child support payments and thus allow child support to increase lone parent incomes and reduce child poverty. More recently our research has contributed to the evolution of policy under the Coalition Government in the 2012 `Welfare Reform' Act, which introduced new `relationship support' services to improve co-parenting relationships, reduce conflict and improve child well-being.
Since 2006 the University of East Anglia (UEA) has led a series of Government commissioned studies of all Serious Case Reviews of child death and serious injury in England. This work has provided the largest national database of analyses of child deaths and serious injury where abuse or neglect are known or suspected.
Since 2008, the findings have informed public understanding, practitioner thinking, multi-agency child protection practice, policy and law - in the UK, and internationally. Both key child protection policy and practice reviews commissioned by the UK Government 2008-13, the Laming report (2009) and the Munro Review of Child Protection (2011), drew on this research.
Responding to the crisis in confidence amongst clinicians involved in child protection, Cardiff University developed the world's first research programme to provide the scientific basis for more reliable clinical assessments of child abuse and neglect. The programme, which involves 21 systematic reviews (updated annually) and related primary studies, has directly informed five national clinical guidelines, the National Child Protection training program and the first NICE guidance on child maltreatment. Through the Core-Info website, the evidence base created by the Cardiff team is accessed each year by 100,000 users. Key messages from their research have been published in a series of Core-Info leaflets which have reached more than 250,000 allied professionals nationally. The Cardiff research informs standardised national clinical practice, training and legal decisions, ultimately improving the recognition and protection of children from abuse or neglect.
UNICEF estimate that over 3,500 children die annually from abuse and neglect in economically developed countries, including 100 in the UK of whom around 4 are from Northern Ireland. Although the number of deaths appears to be falling in the UK, the rate of decline is slowing. This case study describes the impact of three related pieces of research undertaken for the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People. The aim was to identify the things that policy makers and practitioners could do differently in order to protect children better, and has led to significant improvements into how reviews are undertaken, and in the child protection policies and practices in Northern Ireland. As a result children have been better protected by child welfare professionals.
Research into publishing at the Scottish Centre for the Book (SCOB) based at Edinburgh Napier University has examined the strategic development of publishing in Scotland and, in a significant expansion of this work, its nature within small nations and national regions. This established a new perspective for a field that had hitherto focussed on the UK or transnational, and fed into public policy and the operations of publishing companies within Scotland. SCOB, in partnership with public and private bodies, has raised awareness and understanding of the nature, role and value of publishing in Scotland among government, policy-makers and the public.
We have influenced the development and implementation of national higher education policies and educational practices in Scotland as well as international policies through the development of a distinctive approach to evaluation based on social practice theory. Using a novel way of conceptualising and conducting evaluative research, we have:
Research within the UoA influenced national policy developments, implementation, and practice guidelines regarding protecting/supporting vulnerable adults. The Unit's research, led by Professor Hogg, was used in the development of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 which now guides practice with all vulnerable adults in Scotland. The Unit's research was used to develop a multi-agency Adult Support and Protection (ASP) self-evaluation methodology and toolkit. Over 50% of adult protection committees in Scotland have adopted its use. The Unit's research has led to the development of a national strategy and practice guidelines to ensure all vulnerable adults with profound and multiple learning difficulties in Scotland have a right to appropriate health care provision, including invasive procedures.