Practice reviews

The Practice Review referral pathway details the local practice review process

A referral must be made to the SSCP in the event of a child death, or a child suffering serious harm where abuse, and/ or neglect are suspected (as detailed in Working Together, 2023). 

A referral may be made to the SSCP for consideration of a practice review to establish whether there are lessons to be learned about the way in which local professionals and organisations work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Referrals may also be made to the SSCP for consideration of a Serious Offence Review where a child has been charged with a serious offence. 

Referrals can be made to the SSCP to highlight a seriously good outcome for a child or their family, where multi agency safeguarding practice has been particularly effective. 

Please seek advice from your Practice Review Subgroup representative before you make a referral. 

You can make a referral using the relevant referral form from the toolkit. 

During the review process, all agencies are asked to provide a summary of their involvement and a chronology of significant events. Templates can be downloaded from the toolkit. Completed and quality assured referral forms, agency summaries and chronologies, should be sent securely to sscp@salford.gov.uk. 

See the Practice Review Policy and Process for further information.

The SSCP has a statutory duty to identify learning and respond to it as part of the case review process. Learning should be actioned at the earliest opportunity.  

The SSCP seeks to understand themes and learning opportunities from case review activity. Learning is disseminated, using various methods across the partnership. Action plans are developed based on the recommendations from a review. These are monitored by the Practice Review Subgroup. Agencies are committed to demonstrating how identified learning is embedded within their organisation. The impact of this activity upon children and their families is measured through the Safeguarding Effectiveness Framework. 

Local Learning from Practice Reviews:

Published reviews are available to download on the SSCP website for 12 months. 7-minute briefings and quarterly bitesize briefing sessions are accessible for all partners to support learning and improvement.  

Learning from local practice reviews is embedded within the SSCP training programme.

A summary of local practice review activity is detailed within the SSCP Annual Report. 

National Case Review Repository 

In November 2013, the NSPCC launched the National Case Review Repository. The repository provides a single place for published case reviews to make it easier to access and share learning at a local, regional and national level. 

National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel:

The National Panel oversees reviews of all serious child safeguarding cases. Where themes are identified or issues of national concern are highlighted, the panel will commission a wider practice review.