RALLY FOR THE CHILDREN OF HARINGEY

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by rahman on November 19, 2008 at 13:35

Would it have made the situation any better/ changed anything if he had broken down in tears whilst apologising?

Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on November 19, 2008 at 17:12

No, nothing anyone does now can help poor Baby P. Our focus must be on preventing more tears in future. And that includes replacing people who cannot perform their jobs well enough.

Last night, Councillor Meehan's delivery and demeanour demonstrated a certain detachment. The apology he read out may have been prepared by a PR firm specializing in crisis management, possibly Lexington Communications, which for more than three years the council retained in connection with Alexandra Palace (cost = c. £200,000).

The point I was trying to make was, the degree to which Cllr. Meehan feels responsible and is really sincere about the apology he read out.

Amongst other things, the carefully crafted statement sought to generalize blame amongst several agencies and did not mention any personal responsibility. (I had not noticed at the time the absence of place-names on the desks of the members of the executive, but exceptionally, they were missing. Another sign of avoiding individual accountability?)

Both the slick wording and the lateness of the apology make one wonder if the words read out were truly heart-felt.

George Meehan was Leader of the Council at the time of the Victoria Climbie death and the Lord Laming Enquiry and one might suppose that in these circumstances, he would feel an extra sense of personal responsibility.

Only after he read out the statement and after prompting, did Mr Meehan offer any form of personal apology which he said he was happy to do, but which was as brief as it could have been. Perhaps the carefully prepared statement avoided any personal reference because the corollary of that should have been his resignation.

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on November 19, 2008 at 22:52

Clive, we all show our feelings in different ways. George Meehan is a fellow councillor and someone I’ve known for over twenty years. Not closely; but enough, I think, to get the measure of the man and to see both weaknesses and strengths.

Whatever else you (or I) may say in criticism of George, the idea that he is detached and unfeeling is completely untrue. We are all sickened and angry and deeply sorry about what happened to 'Baby P'. But nobody who has worked with George Meehan could doubt his deeply felt passion for Haringey and just as deeply felt anger and disappointment when things go wrong.

Because there are legal restrictions on what he and Liz Santry could say, they have carried the knowledge of this case day after day. Who I saw on the News was not a man "detached" – but one sickened and deeply saddened.

Of course as you suggest, I agree that action is needed on “preventing more tears in future”. But can I also caution about “replacing people” if that means looking for scapegoats.

Now, you may be reading my post and thinking: ‘He would say that, wouldn’t he”. So let me give you another reason for scepticism. Back in the seventies I was a social worker. Okay, many things have changed radically. But one thing hasn’t changed and that’s the risk we all took as frontline workers with families and children, of making a wrong judgement which led to tragedy. In fact it sometimes felt that whatever we did would be criticised. Intervene or fail to intervene.

I’m not trying to make excuses. But right now, we don’t know all the facts. There are thousands of opinions, of course. But it’s facts we need. I am hoping that the OFSTED Review will help.

Permalink Reply by Eddie Finnegan on November 20, 2008 at 11:10

Clive, I must say I find myself totally in agreement with Alan's characterisation of George Meehan and his passion for Haringey, or indeed for any communal cause he has contributed to long before he became Leader for the first time.
"Detached" or emotionless he wasn't, and why wouldn't a formal statement of apology in such a tragic case be carefully crafted, rather than "slickly worded"? As Alan says, we all show our feelings in our own way and I don't think George would ever see himself as a smoothly practised 'emoter'. Time for reflection, perhaps, until OFSTED and the other enquiries have taken their course.

Permalink Reply by Julie on November 20, 2008 at 13:54

Sharon Shoesmith gave fifteen interviews after the verdict, three of them live. In every single one of them she expressed regret and sadness for the child's death. All apologies were edited out.

Everybody's an expert, and the report isn't even out yet. What if the report concludes that nothing could have been done to save this child and Haringey's practice was as good as it could be? Will anybody be apologising for jumping to conclusions and spreading rumours?

At least most contributions on this thread are thoughtful and measured. It's despicable to try to link this toddler's death with personal views about George Meehan or Alexandra Palace or Haringey Council.

Permalink Reply by Chris Smith on November 21, 2008 at 11:14

While the case itself is horrific I'm rather alarmed by the media focus on Haringey Social Services. What about the rest of them? There were numerous agencies involved and they are all accountable. This child was seen 60-odd times in his short, pathetic life by hospitals, doctors, the Police. That amounts to almost once a week, presuming he was seen from birth. If he wasn't seen by anyone for some months after he was born then he was seen by somebody more than once a week. If there were failings on the part of one agency it should have been picked up by another and acted upon. There are ways of forcing the hand and the fact that that hand was not forced is inexcusable.

Lord Laming's inquiry into the Victoria Climbie tragedy highlighted the need for better coordination of services. He also said that there should never be an excuse for this happening again and that those responsible for any further instances such as this would all be held to account. There is now better coordination of services but the services themselves don't seem to apply it. A public enquiry is surely the next step to take. The public have a right to know what went wrong and why.

Permalink Reply by Julie on November 24, 2008 at 13:06

There's a link to the Serious Case Review in this piece:

http://www.ministryoftruth.me.uk/2008/11/17/a-week-in-the-death-of-...

It throws a very different light on things.

Permalink Reply by Liz on November 24, 2008 at 13:29

Thank you Julie for another take on this,
I think that as the majority of people on this thread have expressed the opinion that we simply do not know what happened and that we should wait until the enquiry's findings, I will close this thread since there is little more than can be added. I feel all views have been represented here and it has been open long enough to allow rights of reply etc.
Thanks
Liz
(site admin)

Permalink Reply by Liz on November 24, 2008 at 16:29

Alan Stanton has requested that we add one more contribution from him to this discussion (and then I really am going to keep it closed):

Alan wrote:
"...anyone who has an open mind and curious mind may want to read it [Julie's link]. I'm not saying it's right; I don't know. (I'm not allowed to read the full Case Review Report and have also had to rely on the press and things leaked on the internet.)

Having read and raised it with one of my colleagues who is centrally involved, my fear is that the OFSTED Review now underway might not actually take us nearer the truth of the Baby P tragedy - simply because it's not specifically focusing on those facts. I may be wrong.

Right now I have three central and overriding concerns.

1. How do those in charge ensure that children in Haringey who are 'at risk' are best protected? Bearing in mind that the immediate outcome of the Victoria Climbié Inquiry was a haemorrhage of staff and reluctance by people to come and work in Haringey.
2. How to ensure that staff who do their jobs are not destroyed professionally and personally. Bearing in mind that Lisa Arthurworrey - Victoria Climbiés social worker - had a breakdown following her dismissal and public humiliation.
3. That generally across the country social workers and linked professionals could become so terrified of the consequences of one mistake that few people will want to do any job which might involve child protection.
Bearing in mind that if "Unity" has got it right - I'm not saying whether s/he has, I simply don't know - but if, then it's possible that the staff involved are being hounded and vilified without having made a significant mistake.

To my mind, none of these three concerns are party political. Having a sound system which enables staff to protect children and support families is far more important than the current party circus.

Alan

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