HOW Baby P was left to suffer a long and painful death at the hands of his mother and two of her acquaintances has, understandably, shocked the nation, not least because of the culpability of Haringey Council and its pitiful failure to prevent a catalogue of murderous abuse.
It also defies logic that the social workers who so failed this child can be allowed to remain in post given the repeated assurances hat "lessons would be learned" following the murder of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie, again in Haringey, in 2000.
That was not the case. Yet it is crucial, given the various investigations underway, that the Government's role should be scrutinised after it emerged how Patricia Hewitt, the then Health Secretary, and other Ministers had been alerted to child protection failings at Haringey six months prior Baby P's death.
It will never be known whether the little boy's life could have been saved if the whistleblower's allegations had been treated more seriously from the outset rather than her being subjected to disciplinary proceedings.
Two points do however need to be addressed. First, what is the point of the Government putting in place procedures to encourage whistleblowers to come forward if they are subjected to the same culture of buck-passing that so failed Baby P?
Second, what does it say about the ineffectiveness of Whitehall's bureaucracy when Ministers allow concerns about the vulnerability of children too young to speak up for themselves to be passed from agency to agency, with scant consideration given to the fact that lives could be at risk?
Baby P wasn't just failed by his pathetic mother and Haringey Council. He was also let down by the Government, hence the need for an inquiry that extends beyond its current remit.
The full article contains 298 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
