HEALTH professionals missed opportunities to protect a child who later died from multiple brain haemorrhages and skull fractures inflicted by her father.

According to a report published by the Hampshire Safeguarding Children's Board, more could have been done to protect the youngster who was 20 weeks old when she died.

No one involved in the case has been identified in the report which has been published after a Serious Case Review was ordered into whether the authorities could have done more to protect the child.

The report outlines how no concerns were raised surrounding the welfare of the child following her birth at Frimley Park.

However, her mother took the baby to her GP because she felt the baby was not bonding with its father. The report also outlines how the mother also confided in a nursery nurse that she was concerned about the baby hurting itself by pulling on its cheeks causing bruising.

The baby was also taken to an out of hours GP surgery the day before being admitted to hospital where bruises on her face were seen but not reported to social services.

The child was admitted to hospital after the father called 999 to say his daughter was not breathing. She was later transferred to Southampton Paediatric Intensive Care Unit where she was later pronounced dead.

A subsequent examination found she had suffered three skull fractures, brain haemorrhages, three rib fractures and multiple bruising.

The publication of the report was delayed following the conviction of the father who was found to be responsible for the injuries, according to the report.

That report examines how the authorities handled the events and was published today.

Maggie Blyth, Independent Chairman of the Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board commented: “The death of this baby was deeply tragic. Naturally, our thoughts and sympathies go to the relatives coming to terms with their loss.

“Serious case reviews will always find areas for improvement in practice and we are confident that the partner agencies will take forward the recommendations, particularly with regard to ensuring frontline staff are clear about the implications of reported bruising on a child, especially when that child is not yet old enough to crawl or walk.

“The report makes it clear that the family was not known to social services and most dealings with professionals were unexceptional. Health professionals, educationalists, the police and children's services staff in Hampshire take the welfare and safety of children extremely seriously and work together to keep children safe from harm. A lot has been learned from this review.”

The independent author made recommendations for the Safeguarding Board and nine organisations ranging from school governors to general practice and NHS Trusts. They include ensuring the bruising policy is widely understood and implemented, that staff are helped to be more challenging, and that out of hours GP services have the best safeguarding arrangements.