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Child Death Review Process

What is the Child Death Overview Panel?

The Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) is the statutory body responsible for reviewing the deaths of all children and young people under 18 who were normally resident in Gloucestershire, regardless of where the death occurred. CDOP is legally required to carry out a child death review whenever a child dies, to understand how and why children die and to identify whether any lessons can be learned locally or nationally. 

The child death review process has two parts:

A rapid response from key professionals who come together to enquire into and evaluate every unexpected child death.

A detailed case review for every child death, followed by an anonymous overview of all deaths within the Gloucestershire area, undertaken by the CDOP. 

 

The Role of CDOP in Gloucestershire

In Gloucestershire, the CDOP plays a vital role in coordinating information, reviewing circumstances surrounding each child’s death, and identifying any modifiable factors that could help prevent future deaths. The review process also supports families, schools, and professionals by helping them understand the circumstances of a child’s death and ensuring appropriate bereavement support is available. 

When a child dies, the death must be reported to the Gloucestershire CDOP through the online notification process. CDOP then gathers information from agencies involved in the child’s life to form a comprehensive understanding of what happened and what may need to change. 

Child Death Review Published Arrangements (Protocol) 2024

The deaths of all babies / children under 18 years (excluding live born terminations) resident in Gloucestershire, regardless of where the death took place, should be notified to the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership using the online Notification Form (click button below).

Notification Form to Report a Child Death

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 CDOP Panel who will then coordinate the information.

All Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships 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 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.
  • A final case review for every child death
  • An anonymous overview of all child deaths in the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership area, undertaken by a panel.

For advice and information please contact the Child Death Review Team by email at cdop@gloucestershire.gov.uk

For advice about how to support pupils and members of staff following a child death at an educational setting please contact Georgina Summers, Safeguarding in Education Manager by email at gsep@gloucestershire.gov.uk