ABSTRACT
That effective work in child protection requires inter-professional cooperation is widely accepted and little challenged. Successive inquiries, beginning with that (in 1974) into the death of Maria Colwell have pointed to failures in this aspect of the case. The issue has been signalled as of importance by the Department of Health (DoH) for nearly 20 years, mainly by guidance issued to local and health authorities. The latest such guidance Working Together (Department of Health 1991) superseded an earlier version in 1988, indicating the government view that there was a need for revised guidance after only three years. During that period, research commissioned by the DoH has come to fruition with the publication of a major study by Birchall and Hallett, preceded by an extensive literature review (Birchall and Hallett 1992a; 1992b). (A third report by Hallett is forthcoming.) This chapter draws heavily on that work, which is of substantial value in throwing light on the British scene.
