No. 55 Rapid Reviews – Devon
Contents
When are Rapid Reviews held?
A Rapid Review is convened for serious child safeguarding cases where:
- Abuse or neglect of a child is suspected and
- the child has died or been seriously harmed.
A more detailed list of what constitutes a serious child safeguarding concern can be found in the document Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel guidance for safeguarding partners (Sept 2022).
Your Local Authority is required under Working Together to Safeguarding Child (if the above criteria are met), to notify Ofsted and the DFE. Once the Local Authority has made these notifications a Rapid Review is undertaken, following a strict timescale.
What is the purpose of a Rapid Review
- To gather the facts about the case, as far as they can be readily established at the time.
- To discuss whether there is any immediate action needed to ensure children’s safety and share any learning appropriately.
- To consider the potential for identifying improvements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
- To decide what steps the Local Safeguarding Partnership should take next.
Rapid reviews are not a process to assign blame or criticism but a chance to reflect and learn both as individuals and individual agencies and to strengthen the shared responsibility towards safeguarding, which is held across the wider partnership.
Who is involved in a Rapid Review?
All agencies (including Education) who have been involved with the subject child or family are required to contribute to a Rapid Review. To support this initial scoping of intelligence agencies are asked to complete an agency summary form.
This form gathers the basic facts around the case. More detailed information will be sought if the Rapid Review Panel believes it necessary to identify national or local learning. If this is the case a Local Child Safeguarding Practice review (LCSPR) may be commissioned. However a well conducted and informed Rapid Review, in many cases, may avoid the need for additional lengthy reviews such as an LCSPR as that additional learning will have already been identified and disseminated to appropriate safeguarding partners.
Rapid reviews can run alongside other investigations (e.g. Police). By providing your settings information you are not impeding other investigations, in fact you have a statutory duty to provide the information if requested.
Rapid Reviews and education
If an education setting has been identified as being involved with the subject child or family the Headteacher/Senior Lead of that establishment will be contacted by phone or by a face-to-face teams meeting by a member of the local authority education safeguarding team (who sits on the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group, CSPRG). The caller will provide you with their name, role, the reason for making contact and then confirm the subject of the conversation and that they attend your setting.
The rapid review process will be explained to you and a summary of why this particular review has been called given.
The agency summary review form will be explained and further assistance, if required, to complete the form will be offered.
It is important to remember that discussing Rapid Reviews can at times affect a professional’s wellbeing as conversations can be on very difficult and emotional themes. Your wellbeing is important so, if necessary, access your settings internal support mechanisms and take some time for ‘you’. Ensure you have the callers contact details so that you can catch up with them, ask questions and receive appropriate signposting to support if required.
Rapid Review timeline
In Devon the timescale for Rapid Reviews are as follows:
Step 1 – Serious incident: within 5 days of the incident a meeting is arranged between Children Social Care (CSC), Police and Health (and when appropriate Education). If the criterion for a rapid review has been met information from other relevant agencies will be sought. Notification is sent through to National Panel and Ofsted
Step 2- Working day 1: Letters, agency summary templates and guidance are sent to the Safeguarding leads of all relevant agencies – for Education this will be the member of the Education Safeguarding Team at DCC who sits on the CSPRG.
Step 3 – Working days 2-10: The Education Safeguarding Team member at DCC will contact Headteacher/Senior Lead to request they complete the agency summary form.
Step 4- Working days 2-10: The Rapid Review Panel members meet to report on progress of individual agency summaries and identify further agencies to contact.
Step 5- Working days 2-10: the Panel reviews all agency summaries received.A summary and outcome of the Rapid Review is developed, and recommendations (if appropriate) made to the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership Executive.
Step 6 – Working days 12-15: Final version of the summary and outcome of the Rapid Review report is made. This report is then signed off by the Executive Safeguarding Partners and shared with the Practice Development Group to enable them to identify further actions to develop practice.
Step 7 – Working day 16: Summary and outcome of rapid review is sent to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review National Panel.
It is vital that all agencies return their information in accordance with the timescale outlined in guidance to ensure a timely and effective identification of areas to develop and future learning.
Most LA’s will follow a similar timescale, as it is outlined in Working Together to Safeguard Children, Chapter 4, however the names of the working groups/acronyms may differ slightly.
How can we use Rapid Reviews?
Rapid Reviews can be used in education settings to support staff CPD to:
- reflect on own safeguarding practice.
- review settings processes and procedures
- ensure that all staff and adults in your setting know what to do if they have a safeguarding concern.
- emphasis the need to be ‘professionally curious’ and challenge, that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
- emphasis the need to listen to the child, to hear and report the child’s voice.
- raise awareness of current local and national safeguarding concerns.
- continue to raise the profile of safeguarding within your setting.
- remind ourselves of the importance of information sharing should we have a safeguarding concern.
Further information and resources
Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
Working Together to Safeguard Children: Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel guidance for safeguarding partners
Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership: Safeguarding Practice and Rapid Reviews
Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership: Rapid Review Process Flowchart
Devon safeguarding Children Partnership: Individual Agency Summary form – template
Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership: Safeguarding Practice reviews and Rapid Review briefings
READING –
NSPCC: Recently published case reviews NSPCC: National repository of case reviews
Please refer to your Local Authority Safeguarding Partnership for specific resources, template proformas and Rapid Review flowcharts/procedures