Scotland has a higher mortality rate for under-18s than most other Western European countries. Over 300 children and young people die each year. Around a quarter of those deaths could be prevented.
Summary
Reviews will be conducted into the deaths of all live born children up to the date of their 18 birthday. This extends to 26 birthday for care leavers. These care leavers are in receipt of continuing care or aftercare at the time of their death.
The National hub aims to:
- ensure that the death of every child in Scotland is subject to a quality review by:
- developing a methodology and documentation to ensure all deaths of children and young people, that are not subject to any other review, are reviewed through a high quality and consistent process
- improving the quality and consistency of existing reviews
- improve the experiences and engagement with families and carers
- channel learning from current review processes across Scotland that could direct action to help reduce preventable deaths
Overview report
This report provides an overview of the activity that took place in the first year since the launch of the National Hub on 01 October 2021.
National Hub – Overview Report: Year 1: 1 October 2021 – 30 September 2022