HC Deb 11 February 1986 vol 91 cc431-2W
Mr. Galley

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action in preventing cot deaths has been taken by his Department and the professions since the Knowelden report and the conference on this subject sponsored by his Department in March 1985.

Mr. Whitney

The Knowelden research was commissioned in an attempt to identify preventable causes of infant deaths. The study, which has been widely distributed, showed that a number of the deaths were in fact partly or wholly explicable, but in general no specific actions were identified that could have prevented many of the deaths certified as cot deaths. The conference confirmed these findings.

However, there were a number of more general recommendations. Some concerned maternity services and related pathology services, and the Government have already emphasised to health authorities the importance of these through the reports of the maternity services advisory committee. We have expressed to the Medical Research Council the importance we attach to the need for further research into finding the causes of infant deaths for which full post-mortems offer no explanation. We are considering ways of improving the information about cot deaths received through death certificates, and the availability of the results of coroners' post mortems to other clinicians who are investigating such deaths. We shall be looking for ways in which services in the community to the very young can be improved in the light of the consultations on the primary health care discussion document, and the review of community nursing. Finally I am aware that the British Paediatric Association, the Health Visitor's Association, and the Royal College of General Practitioners are considering in their joint working party, the points made in the report about the professional care of children under one. Separately, I understand the British Paediatric Association are considering the question of the care of sick children immediately after admission to hospital.

It would be unrealistic to expect speedy solutions to the tragedy of cot deaths but we are hopeful that continuing action of the kind I have indicated will enable progress to be made.