Child Death Overview Panel

The death of any child is a tragedy. Every parent has a right to have such an event properly investigated.
Sandwell SCB has drawn up a ‘Best Practice’ Protocol with the West Midlands Police to meet the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018, which sets a duty on all SCBs to have in place arrangements for the thorough and timely evaluation of all sudden unexpected child deaths.
Working Together requires that multi agency procedures are in place to undertake a multi agency ‘rapid response’ investigation and evaluation of all the circumstances surrounding each unexpected child death. The information from this investigation will be considered by a SCB Child Death Overview Panel with a view to ensuring that lessons are learned, common themes identified and actions taken to contribute to preventing children’s deaths, and to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children in future.
To find out more about this Protocol or the procedures which are followed in the event of a Sudden Unexpected Child Death, please go to:
SUDC Protocol West Midlands Region Multi-Agency Guidance Manual
Child Death review Statutory and Operational Guidance (England) – October 2018
Sandwell SCB Procedures relating to the work of CDOP can be accessed below:

For further information about the work of CDOP please see the panel’s terms of reference.
The 2017-18 CDOP Annual Report provides a summary of the key work undertaken by the panel between April 1st 2017 – 31st March 2018.