Child Death Overview Panel Chair inEastleigh inEastleigh PUBLISHED TUE 10 DEC 2024

The HIOW (HIPS) Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) is a statutory, multi-agency panel set up by child death review partners to review the deaths of all children normally resident in the HIPS area and if appropriate, and agreed, between child death review partners, the deaths in the area of non-resident children, in order to learn lessons and share any findings for the prevention of future deaths.

The statutory task of the multi-agency panel lies in its ability to scrutinise the circumstances surrounding each child's death and where appropriate, to provide challenge to the agencies involved to further enhance the learning, as well as make recommendations to the appropriate agencies to improve service delivery and patient experience.

The Children Act 2004 requires Child Death Partners, to ensure arrangements are in place to carry out child death reviews, including the establishment of a Child Death Overview Panel. The reviews are conducted in accordance with Working Together 2023 and follows the legal framework for the child death review process.

Since October 2, there has been a strategic Child Death Overview Panel covering all of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton, the HIPS CDOP. This is an equal partnership for the mutual benefit of all children and young people involved and provides an oversight and assurance of the whole Child Death Review (CDR) process in accordance with legislation and local Child Death Review policies.

The CDOP team consists of a Designated Doctor for Child Deaths, CDOP Manager and Co-ordinator. CDOP sits under the umbrella of the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board.

The role of Independent Chair is to oversee the partnership working between the constituent organisations, engaging with panel colleagues and other stakeholders to maximise the benefits of collaborative working, shared decision making and effective governance.

This is a statutory and complex, challenging, system-wide post across four local authorities, requiring extensive experience and subject matter expertise in child death review, safeguarding and prevention.

The post also demands high levels of diplomacy and managerial skill to work across an internal and external network of organisations, each with their own priorities.

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To ensure compliance with statutory guidance the CDOP should be chaired by someone independent of all Child Death Review partner agencies and the key providers (NHS, social services, and police) in the area.

The post holder will be required to work with staff across all settings, where staff have contact with children and adults, to promote good knowledge, understanding and practice and effectively enabling safeguarding within local communities.

The post holder will contribute to the development, implementation, auditing and evaluation of policies, procedures and pathways. These would include and reflect national standards and legislation, supporting providers to ensure that practice is in line with local, regional, national regulatory and statutory requirements.

The post holder will also be responsible for ensuring that health is familiar with learning from safeguarding reviews, seeking assurance that this learning is embedded.

The post holder will be required to develop good working relationships with partner agencies and external organisations and effectively communicate matters regarding safeguarding to ensure that practice relating to information sharing and confidentiality are compliant and of a high standard.