Baby boy starved to death while under care of health services

A baby boy was found dead after having starved for several days despite being under the care of at least nine doctors, social workers and health visitors, it was disclosed yesterday.

The emaciated body of the 10-month-old, the son of an HIV-positive woman, was found in his family flat in north-west London, on March 8.

His 29-year-old mother was arrested on suspicion of child neglect but died two days later from a rare brain condition linked to her medical condition, a national newspaper reported.

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A post-mortem examination earlier this month has not yet fully established a cause of death for the baby boy and officers are waiting for further test results, Scotland Yard said.

But an internal management review by one of the health trusts involved, Central and North West London NHS Foundation, leaked to the newspaper, said: "Post-mortem results on the infant showed that he had no food in his gut at all and so had not eaten for several days at least.

"However, there is evidence of a long period of malnourishment."

A serious case review has been launched into the circumstances surrounding his death.

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The boy, who was said to have had "massive" developmental difficulties, an underlying serious health condition and a history of being underweight, is reported to have been seen at least 15 times in the last six months by care professionals.

The agencies involved in the case are said to be two health care trusts, Westminster City Council social services and a consortium of London boroughs providing health visitors.

Westminster Council said the baby boy and his three-year-old sister were not on the child protection register.

The family were said to have been rehoused in London in September after the mother claimed she was beaten up by the children's father.

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The newspaper said the mother avoided contact with care workers by claiming that using a interpreter to question her could breach her confidential status as HIV positive.

Terry Bamford, chairman of Westminster Local Safeguarding Children Board, said: "This is an extremely tragic case and our thoughts are with the surviving family members.

"A serious case review will now be conducted by somebody completely independent of all the agencies who had contact with the family.

"When we have investigated the full circumstances that led to the baby's death, we will be able to determine if anything could have been done to help prevent it. The review will make recommendations if any changes in policies and procedures are necessary."

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He rejected a "misleading impression" that there were no lessons to be learned from the case.

"I think that virtually every serious case review finds that there are lessons to be learned, often, sadly, lessons learned with the benefit of hindsight."

His remarks come after the an excerpt from Central and North West London NHS Foundation trust internal management review was published in the national newspaper. It concluded: "Are there any lessons to be learned from this preliminary investigation? No. Are there any immediate actions that need to be taken? No."

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