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Lisa Arthurworrey, the social worker involved in the case of Victoria Climbie, admitted on Radio Four's Today programme that she made mistakes.

Arthurworrey said that the case had caused her to have a nervous breakdown. She is now appealing against her dismissal for gross misconduct. She said: "I realised that I had got things terribly wrong because I had perceived Kouao as a kind person who was trying to do her best by the child...In some ways I was responsible. I didn't save her which [it] was my job to do."


Sadly, Arthurworrey's testimony manages to encapsulate much of why the public's image of social workers is so poor. Of course, Arthurworrey had too heavy a case load, she was inexperienced and she certainly wasn't the only one to blame. Nevertheless, in re-examining her conduct, she repeatedly returned to the word butÉ but doctors misled herÉ but managers let her downÉ but Kouao was convincing. But nothing.

Arthurworrey was on the front line, her instincts, her ability to judge character; her rapport or lack of it with Victoria, were what counted most, as was her motivation to investigate thoroughly.

She received a 19-page fax from a consultant paediatrician that detailed Victoria's injuries including razor cuts. She "skim read" the fax as did her manager. Both concentrated on a covering letter which stated there were no "child protection concerns".

The average member of the public is bound to believe that common sense indicates that 19-pages of medical evidence have to flag several reasons not to be cheerful about the outcome for a child.


Arthurworrey says the fax was "difficult to read".

God help other children if investigations are conducted on the basis of what evidence is legible. Arthurworrey's qualified culpability holds little appeal. How could she return to social work, if that is her aim, since her professional instinct, so lacking in the Climbie case, is bound to be even further undermined by future intense scrutiny? If she wishes to remove the charge of gross misconduct from her record then she helps to further undermine public confidence.

Good practice and social work do not go together easily in the media's mind - although there are steps now to challenge that negative image. Arthurworrey does neither herself nor the profession any favours in the manner in which she is trying to salvage her reputation.