Dundee child protection now stronger
Child protection services in Dundee are more robust now than when toddler Brandon Muir was killed by his mother’s lover, the city’s director of social work has said, writes Stefan Morkis.
Alan Baird’s comments came on the first anniversary of two independent reports into Dundee child protection that were triggered by the toddler’s tragic death in 2008.
Although the reports, by former Fife Police chief constable Peter Wilson and social work consultant Jimmy Hawthorn, said Brandon’s death could not have been predicted, they did warn that there had been “gaps and inaccuracies” in the handling of the case.
The 23-month-old died at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend, Robert Cunningham. Cunningham was later found guilty of culpable homicide and jailed for 10 years.
During his trial it was revealed that Brandon and his mother were well known to social services and that the toddler had only been 48 hours from being taken into care.
A follow-up report by Mr Wilson was released two months ago and Mr Baird, who also chairs the Dundee children and young persons protection committee, said it showed how child protection has improved.
A new system will go live at the end of the month to notify social work, the police and the health service as soon as a child is identified as being at risk while an assessment team is created.
They will meet every day to discuss referrals.
Mr Baird said, “I think we’ve made improvements as identified in Peter Wilson’s follow-up report in June, and I think that has given considerable encouragement to all of the agencies, that they are seen to be on the right track.”
He added, “Communication is one of the biggest challenges for any organisation. We’ve got a child protection messaging system that will launch at the end of the month.
“We also have a new multi-agency assessment team which will be based in King’s Cross and will bring all the key agencies together to assess referrals every day.”
Mr Baird said, “Referrals are coming in all the time so they are bringing together key information and assessing the best means of protection for every case.
“Every situation is different so those two things are very significant.”
Shockwaves
He admitted Brandon’s death sent shockwaves through child protection in Dundee.
Mr Baird said, “It did hurt everybody across the agencies. Whether it is the police, health or social work, people try to make a difference to the quality of people’s lives.
“But morale has remained reasonably positive — I think there has been strong leadership from the chief executives of the council, the NHS and police.”
He added, “They now meet twice a year with staff through engagement events because we feel if we are going to get it right we must listen to staff and learn from their experiences.
“If we find out what the issues are we can improve services and will continue to be able to deal with the most challenging circumstances.”
Mr Baird also said he believed child protection services will be maintained in the face of the £40m cuts Dundee City Council plans to make over three years.
He said, “The leader of the council has given a commitment to protect child protection services. When you bring teams of people together you begin to see opportunities that will allow you to deal with the increasing demand you will see in a city like Dundee.”
Mr Baird added that a helpline set up in January to report suspected child abuse has been a success. He said, “We have had over 50 calls and only one of those has been a hoax. We are trying to increase the public’s awareness of child protection and the issues they have to look out for.”
He added, “If we only get one phonecall that allows us to take a child out of risk then it has been worthwhile.”
It is available 24 hours a day on 01382 307999.
Despite its success, Mr Baird said that there will always be more work to do.
He said, “I will never feel the job is complete — there are always areas we want to improve. But I do think our structures and systems are stronger and more robust than they were.”
