Manchester Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP)

Greater Manchester eCDOP: Live 1 April 2021

As of the 1 April 2021, all child death notifications must be reported electronically via the Greater Manchester eCDOP system.

To notify the CDOP of a child death please CLICK HERE

REMEMBER: It is a statutory requirement to notify the CDOP of all child deaths 0 – 17 years of age, within 24 hours (or the next working day) of the child’s death.

If there are a number of agencies involved, liaison should take place to agree which agency will submit the notification.  However, unless you know someone else has done so, please notify the CDOP with as much information as possible.

From 1 April 2021, the CDOP will no longer be accepting any other form of notifications – all child deaths must be reported via eCDOP.  If a hard copy is received, the referrer will be asked to resubmit the information via eCDOP.  Once you have successfully submitted a child death notification via eCDOP, a PDF version will automatically be generated.  Please download a copy of the Notification Form for your record keeping.

Manchester CDOP eLearning

For more information on how to to complete the eCDOP forms, please view the below eCDOP eLearning presentations:

A. Completing an eCDOP Notification of a Child Death Form

B. Completing an eCDOP Reporting Form & Account Verification

Manchester CDOP Presentation GM eCDOP

Manchester CDOP Point of Contact:

Eesha Naeem

Manchester Child Death Overview Panel Co-ordinator

Email:   eesha.naeem@manchester.gov.uk

The responsibility for ensuring child death reviews are carried out is held by the CDR Partners, who, in relation to a local authority area in England, are defined as the local authority for that area and any clinical commissioning groups operating in the local authority area.

The purpose of the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) review and/or analysis is to identify any matters relating to the death, or deaths, that are relevant to the welfare of children in Manchester or to public health and safety, and to consider whether action should be taken in relation to any matters identified. In addition, the CDOP also prepares and publishes reports on:

• what has taken place as a result of the child death review arrangements, and
• how effective the arrangements are in practice

The CDOP requests information from persons and/or organisations for the purposes of enabling and assisting the review/analysis process – the person or organisation must comply with these request, and if they do not, the CDOP may take legal action to seek enforcement.

CDOP Responsibilities: 

The functions of the CDOP include:

• to collect and collate information about each child death, seeking relevant information from professionals;
• to analyse the information obtained, including the report from the Child Death Review Meeting (CDRM), in order to confirm or clarify the cause of death, to determine any contributory factors, and to identify learning arising from the child death review process that may prevent future child deaths;
• to make recommendations to all relevant organisations where actions have been identified which may prevent future child deaths or promote the health, safety and well-being of children;
• to notify the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and Local Safeguarding Partnership when it suspects that a child may have been abused or neglected;
• to notify the Medical Examiner and the doctor who certified the cause of death, if it identifies any errors or deficiencies in an individual child’s registered cause of death. Any correction to the child’s cause of death would only be made following an application for a formal correction;
• to provide specified data to the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD);
• to produce an annual report for child death review partners on local patterns and trends in child deaths, any lessons learnt and actions taken, and the effectiveness of the wider child death review process; and
• to contribute to local, regional and national initiatives to improve learning from child death reviews, including, where appropriate, approved research carried out within the requirements of data protection.

The Manchester CDOP publishes a quarterly newsletter which is aimed at parents, carers and members of the public to raise awareness of some of the emerging CDOP trends.  The newsletter provides advice and information regarding services available with the aim of preventing future deaths of children and young people:

• Manchester CDOP Newsletter Apr-Jun 2023
• Manchester CDOP Newsletter – April 2022
• Manchester CDOP Newsletter – January 2022
• Manchester CDOP Newsletter – October 2021

Manchester CDOP Annual Report
The findings from child deaths are used to inform local strategic planning on how to best safeguard and reduce harm in children and to promote better outcomes for our children in the future.  The findings and recommendations are published via the Manchester CDOP Annual Report:

• 2020-2021 Manchester CDOP Annual Report

Greater Manchester (GM) CDOP Annual Report

The four CDOPs across Greater Manchester (GM) collect data in a common format to allow sharing of information in order to build a picture of emerging themes and patterns across the sub-region.  Each year the four CDOPs share statistical data and perform a detailed analysis across a larger footprint with the aim of identifying trends.  The findings and recommendations are published via the Greater Manchester CDOPs Annual Report:

• 2019-2020 Greater Manchester CDOPs Annual Report

National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) Reports

The National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) is an NHS funded project, delivered by the University of Bristol, that gathers information on all children who die across England.  The aim is to learn lessons that could lead to changes to improve and save children’s lives in the future.   Further information can be found on the website www.ncmd.info

Child Death Review Data (2019/2020)

Information and data from local CDOPs is collated via the NCMD to produce a national report on themes and trends identified across England:

• Child Death Review Data: Year Ending 31 March 2020

Child Suicide Rates during the COVID-19 Pandemic in England: Real-time Surveillance 

The briefing, which was commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) on behalf of NHS England, describes the findings from the real-time surveillance system relating to child death by suicide in England during lockdown.  By pooling information across all notifications of death, NCMD aim to identify any changes in incidence and common risk factors, and support public health responses to COVID-19 to balance interventions to control the spread of the disease against the impacts that such interventions may have on population health.

To read the report in full, use the link below:

• Child Suicide Rates during the COVID-19 Pandemic in England: Real-time Surveillance (July 2020)

Infant mortality is a measure of the overall health of a population. It reflects the apparent association between the causes of infant mortality and other factors that are likely to influence the health status of whole populations,such as their economic development, general living conditions, social well-being, rates of illness and the quality of the environment.

In March 2019 the Manchester Reducing Infant Mortality Strategy 2019/24 was published www.manchester.gov.uk/reducing_infant_mortality_strategy

The strategy was developed to support the reduction in rates of infant mortality in Manchester; it is a collaboration between services and communities, recognising that everyone has a role to play.

What is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)?

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexpected death of a baby where no cause is found.  The sudden and unexpected death of a baby is usually referred to by professionals as ‘sudden unexpected death in infancy’ (SUDI) or ‘sudden unexpected death in childhood’ (SUDC), if the baby was over 12 months old.  The death of a baby which is unexpected is also sometimes referred to as ‘sudden infant death’.

Some sudden and unexpected deaths can be explained by the post-mortem examination, revealing, for example, an unforeseen infection or metabolic disorder.  Deaths that remain unexplained after the post-mortem are usually registered as ‘sudden infant death syndrome’ (SIDS) or ‘sudden unexplained death in childhood’ (SUDC) in a child over 12 months. Sometimes other terms such as SUDI, SUDC or ‘unascertained’ may be used.

For many babies it is likely that a combination of factors affect them at a vulnerable stage of their development, which leads them to die suddenly and unexpectedly.

For more information about safer sleeping practice and reducing the risk of SIDS click here to take view the Manchester resources available.

Be Cot Safe

Be aware of your baby’s sleep environment for every sleep, every where, every time.

Creating a safe sleep environment for your baby

For useful tips on creating a safer sleep environment, take a look at the Manchester video, Creating a safe sleep environment for your baby.

REMEMBER

The safest place for a baby to sleep is on their back, in a Moses basket or cot in a room, with the parent or carer, for the first six months – this advice is the same for all times of the day and night when the baby is sleeping.

Eesha Naeem

Manchester Child Death Overview Panel Co-ordinator

Manchester Public Health Team

Postal Address:

Manchester Child Death Overview Panel

Manchester Safeguarding Partnership

Manchester City Council

4th Floor, Town Hall Extension

Albert Square

P.O Box 532

Manchester

M60 2LA

Email:   eesha.naeem@manchester.gov.uk

CDOPs in England
Contact details of the person responsible for dealing with child death notifications for CDOPs in England can be found on the government website at  www.gov.uk.