Lessons no doubt will be learned...

I've occasionally had a go at social workers in the past for not spotting things, though I do accept that current regulations and workload makes for an environment where mistakes can and do happen, that's not to excuse gross misconduct such as in the case of Sharon Shoesmith and various others who have let children down where they knew there was a problem and did nothing.
Still you'd think that after the Baby P case, social services would be quicker to act, of course as ever, you'd be wrong
Daily Mail.

The parents of a newborn baby left with horrific injuries and fractures all over her body walked free from court today, despite admitting child cruelty charges.
The unnamed infant was just 23 days old when doctors discovered she had suffered multiple breaks to her legs, knees, ribs, right wrist and right hip.
MRI scans showed the baby girl had also sustained a skull haemorrhage and trauma to her brain tissue.
But her parents were spared jail at Bristol Crown Court today, despite pleading guilty to child cruelty on the basis of neglect - because a judge blamed social services for the ordeal.
The court heard that a social worker had warned her bosses that the couple were incapable of caring for their child, but her fears were ignored.
Judge David Ticehurst sentenced the youngster’s father and mother to two-year community orders each, last December.

I'm not sure what the judge was taking when he didn't lock the couple up and throw away the key, though to my mind forcible sterilisation might just have been an option too, though sadly that's apparently against the rules too. But once again a social services dept was warned by one of their own and did nothing and a child suffered. Yes I know that we often scream out against social services and family courts for being over zealous, but that's often enough because they have acted in secret without the parents being represented by solicitors and the evidence considered from an opposing point of view. In this case there was certainly enough warning to allow the creaking mechanism of social services to lurch into action and at least put the child into care pending a full investigation.
As ever, they didn't, expect the usual excuses and platitudes...

A spokesman said today: 'This is a terrible case where a three-week-old baby suffered significant injuries while in the care of her parents.
'This area of social work is an extremely challenging one, where complicated individual circumstances have to be considered when making any judgement about parenting.'We have already carried out a full review of our procedures in light of this case.'

Oops too late, still I'm sure lessons will be learned...

Not.