The death of a seven-year-old girl who starved to death in Birmingham could have been avoided, according to the first Serious Case Review to be published in full.
The Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) found that although the scale of abuse inflicted on Khyra Ishaq by her mother and stepfather would have been hard to predict, her death was ‘preventable’.I
| "Today’s publication of the serious case review clearly highlights the opportunities missed by a number of agencies to intervene in the abuse being inflicted on Khyra by the people she trusted to look after her." Cllr Les Lawrence, Birmingham's cabinet member for children |
The review identified missed opportunities, highlighting that better assessment and information sharing by key organisations could have resulted in a different outcome.
Its findings agreed with judgements made in care proceedings that the death of the child was ultimately the responsibility of the mother and her partner, but added an ‘adequate assessment’ could have been prevented.
In total the review made 18 main recommendations on a number of key issues. Among them were ensuring children services staff communicate more effectively, better systems are put in place to delivery school health services and monitor school pupils height and weight, and ensuring the police are not used as a substitute for multi-agency safeguarding procedures.
Birmingham City Council said it had implemented a range of improvements since the girl died on 17 May 2008.
Cllr Les Lawrence, cabinet member for children, said: ‘We realise that none of the improvements we and other agencies have put in place can bring Khyra back.
‘For that we are profoundly sorry. Today’s publication of the serious case review clearly highlights the opportunities missed by a number of agencies to intervene in the abuse being inflicted on Khyra by the people she trusted to look after her.
‘The majority of the lessons from the review have already been acted upon. Today, as we remember Khyra Ishaq’s life, we re-affirm our commitment to create a children’s social care service that better protects our young people from those who would harm them. Let this be Khyra Ishaq’s legacy.’
