Serious Case Review committee

The Serious Case Review committee receives and reviews requests to undertake serious case reviews. If the information provided meets the criteria, arrangements are made to carry out the case review, report findings, and make recommendations to the Board. 

The committee has representatives from:

• Thames Valley Police
• Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust
• Buckinghamshire Hospital Trust
• Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust
• Buckinhgamshire District Councils
• Ridgeway Partnership
• Buckinghamshire County Council Directorate of Adults and Family Wellbeing

Serious case reviews are carried out to fulfil four main purposes:

1. To determine if there are lessons to be learnt from the case about the way local professionals and agencies worked together
2. To review the effectiveness of the safeguarding adults policy and protocols
3. To inform and improve local inter-agency safeguarding practice
4. To prepare an overview report and make recommendations for future action(s)

They are not inquiries into how an adult died or suffered injury or who is culpable.

Referring a case

Board members may submit an application for a serious case review to the Chair of the Serious Case Review committee or to the Business Development Manager for the Board.

The applications submitted to the Serious Case Review committee are considered against the criteria for serious case reviews, by members of the committee.

The committee will consider the application and will recommend the most appropriate course of action to address the issues raised by the applicant.

If the application is agreed, the committee will select members from the committee to form a Panel for the purposes of hearing the case and manage the process in accordance with the adopted procedures. Panel membership may be extended to include representatives from other organisations or services, according to the needs of the case.