Child Death Review Data: Year ending 31 March 2020

Please note this is no longer our most recent data release. You can find a list of all our data releases in our Publications section.

NCMD has released a report which covers child deaths in England between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 and replaces the LSCB1 statistical return. More specifically, this report includes data on the deaths of children reviewed by Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs), and so will enable them to determine how they compare with national data. For the first time, it also includes information on the number of deaths occurring in this period.

The data included in this report were collected as part of the national Child Death Review (CDR) process in England, which has been in place since 2008 and was established to better understand why children die and reduce the risk of future deaths. This process requires CDR Partners* to review the deaths of all children up to the age of 18, a function which is carried out through their local CDOPs. As outlined in the statutory guidance published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in 2018, it also requires that CDR partners gather information from every agency that has had contact with the child during their life and after their death, including health and social care services, law enforcement and education services. That information must also be passed onto NCMD to maximise learning at a national level. 

Read the report This report (which has been shared with all CDOPs across England by email) can be read in full using the following link

It should be read in conjunction with the following two data tables:

Stay up-to-date: The second NCMD annual report will follow this publication in Spring 2021, and this will include detailed analysis as well as recommendations informed by the data. To receive an update on the release of this and all future NCMD reports, sign up to our mailing list.

Background: These data have been published for a number of years, and are used by CDOPs to inform the production of their local annual reports. Data for 2018/19 and 2017/18 were published by NHS Digital and, prior to that, they were published by the Department for Education. The format has been kept consistent with previous publications, however due to a change in data collection processes, there are a few changes from previous years which are detailed in Section 6 of the report.

*Previously the responsibility of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs)

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