Two social workers sacked over death of boy

    Two Brighton social workers have been sacked over the death of a
    four-year-old boy, writes Lauren
    Revans.

    Case worker David Pamely and adoption worker John Barrow were
    dismissed following a disciplinary hearing last week, over mistakes
    in their care and protection of John Smith.

    When Smith died in December 1999 from a massive blow to the
    head, he had 54 bruises and abrasions and four adult bite marks on
    his body. His adoptive parents Simon and Michelle McWilliam, from
    Fishersgate near Brighton, were sentenced to eight years in prison
    for cruelty in October 2001.

    Smith and one of his sisters were placed with the McWilliams in
    June 1999. Social workers made over 20 visits to the couple during
    the next six months, and held a number of review and planning
    meetings.

    An independent part 8 review report, commissioned by Brighton
    and Hove and West Sussex area child protection committees after
    Smith’s death, concluded that there were a number of
    occasions when social workers should have sought medical advice,
    but failed to do so.

    It found that the professionals were too ready to accept the
    McWilliams’ explanations of Smith’s injuries.

    Following the disciplinary hearing, Brighton and Hove council
    said in a statement that it had been “determined that two social
    workers should be dismissed from the council’s employment with
    immediate effect”.

    In October 2001, former social services director Allan Bowman
    agreed to carry out an investigation into the social workers’
    actions before any disciplinary measures were taken after 100
    social workers stormed his office in protest at Pamely’s and
    Barrow’s suspensions.

    Unison claims the two social workers have been scapegoated, and
    has indicated the possibility of future industrial action. A
    two-minute vigil was held last week by Unison members in a show of
    support for Pamely and Barrow.

    Unison has expressed concern that social workers in the area are
    overloaded with work, and are therefore unable to give their full
    attention to individual cases. The service is also suffering
    because of staff cutbacks, Unison claims.

    However, the part 8 report concluded that, while the reduction
    in fieldwork posts and weaknesses in first-line management systems
    in Brighton and Hove social services had been contributing factors,
    “the critical failures in this case were not in resourcing systems,
    but in the performance of basic social work tasks”.

    More from Community Care

    Comments are closed.