Who will learn from this?

From Barrie Bertram

THE recent serious case review into a case of child abuse that had persisted for some twelve years has generated a number of recommendations, and it is hoped that the appropriate States departments such as Health, Home Affairs and Education will quickly implement them.

Yet, what confidence can there be when a subsequent press conference is fed with the usual trite clichés that are normally delivered on such occasions?

Understandably, the identity of the abuse victim(s) must remain confidential, but it is difficult to reconcile the Health Minister ‘being open and transparent’ with a refusal to say whether disciplinary action is being taken against one or more members of staff.

It is also reported that ‘hindsight is a wonderful thing’. Actually hindsight is not wonderful, as it reflects a lack of vision, foresight, planning, comparison and anticipation, and in this instance the statement ignores the fact that child abuse is not a recent phenomenon, and certainly not in Jersey.

Of course, ‘lessons will be learned’, but by whom, and if so, how will it be demonstrated that they have indeed been? Who, for example, will give the Health department, and here one is forced to use a cliché, a ‘tick in the box’? The Health department itself?

Your article commencing ‘Lessons will be learned’ (JEP, 27 March) was conveniently placed alongside that of another carrying a suggestion from the Constable of St Lawrence that a Children’s Commissioner be appointed. It is a sound suggestion that should be quickly investigated for its merits, and if a strong opinion can be expressed, the role should be promptly established and equipped with a sharp set of teeth.