The way serious case reviews are conducted may radically change soon. Dr Sheila Fish outlines the latest developments
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hat counts as ‘fair’ when child protection practice is appraised? On what grounds can you assess whether a mistake was made, decision-making fl awed or a
course of action poor practice? And how do you deal with poor professional behaviour? These are crucial questions for social workers in particular, who tend to be blamed in high-profi le child death tragedies, whether individually or as a profession.
It is tempting to judge professional practice on the basis of the outcome for the child and family concerned. After all, doesn’t striving to achieve good outcomes for the children and families, both short and long term, defi ne the job? Yet the assumption that the death or injury of a child automatically implies fl aws in professional practice has an initial plausibility that is, in fact, false. This assumption presupposes consensus about what should have happened and what counts as deviation on the part of a professional. It also assumes a simple demonstrable causal link between the professional’s action and the negative outcome. These assumptions make some sense in health care where the notion of ‘patient safety incident’ captures the harm caused or almost caused to patients and the source of that harm