Secretive child death reviews brought New Brunswick's rating down, doctor says

New Brunswick will need to adopt "more comprehensive and transparent" public reporting on child deaths before the Canadian Paediatric Society will consider ranking the province's child death review system as "excellent."

Dr. Michael Dickinson, a Miramichi pediatrician who serves as president of the Canadian Paediatric Society, says New Brunswick's child death review system sounded great on paper.

It gave the province's child death review system an "excellent" grade, one that was cited repeatedly by government.

• The Lost Children: FULL COVERAGE
• N.B. approach to child death reviews gets reduced rating from doctors
• Government will look at making child death reviews 'more transparent'

"We were rated excellent," cabinet minister Serge Rousselle said in March.

"So we must be doing something good."

But the pediatric society has downgraded the province's grade to "good," saying the system isn't transparent enough and the committee may not be fulfilling its mandate of reviewing all pediatric deaths.

Dickinson, who chairs the committee that came up with the rankings, said Tuesday that the change was made after CBC's The Lost Children series and after a letter from pediatrician Dr. Susan Sanderson, a member of the child death review committee.

"It was clear to me that we could be doing better work in New Brunswick," Dickinson said.

'People have a right to know'

He said it's possible for New Brunswick to return to an "excellent" grade if the government adopts more transparent public reporting.

The government is reviewing its child death review system, but hasn't said what changes could be coming.

The end goal is to find "an approach to child death reviews that better balances the need for privacy with the public's right to know," spokesperson Elaine Bell has said.

"I think people have a right to know about the circumstances of these deaths," Dickinson said.

New Brunswick's child death review committee has been around for two decades, following the death of two-year-old Jackie Brewer in Saint John.

But most of the committee's work, including its findings, is protected under privacy legislation.

It means the general public knows little about what the committee is doing and how it works.

Dickinson admitted even he didn't know the committee existed until recently.

"I'm grateful for the work that they do," the doctor said.

"But I think that some of their results and their reporting could certainly be more high-profile."

Youth advocate questioned ranking

Child and youth advocate Norm Boss said Tuesday thathe also questioned the province's "excellent" rating from the Canadian Paediatric Society.

"I think those glory days of saying, 'Look, we're excellent because they said we're excellent,' are gone," Boss said.

"We're back to good. Now let's work on it and make it excellent."

Boss is part of the government's review into its child death review system. He's suggested a number of changes, arguing the public must know how many children are dying and how they're dying.

Boss also wants the committee to get its own legislation with the power it needs to do reviews.

On Tuesday afternoon, the chief coroner released a report from the child death review committeethat details its recommendations stemming from two child deaths.

It doesn't say anything about how those children died or if they could have been saved.

In one case, the committee said government should change the law so it can see a child's mental health records during a review.

In the second case, the committee recommended the Department of Social Development make "every effort" to do home visits for babies born to drug-addicted mothers after they're released from hospital.

Part 1:The Lost Children: The secret life of death by neglect

Jackie Brewer, the 2-year-old who was ignored to death

How New Brunswick's child death review system works

Part 2:The Lost Children: 'A child that dies shouldn't be anonymous'

Haunted byJuli-Anna: An 'agonizingly painful' preventable death

Part 3:The Lost Children: Change on horizon for First Nations child welfare

Mona Sock, a life stolen by abuse

Part 4:The Lost Children: Government weighs privacy over transparency in child deaths

Baby Russell: A few minutes of life, then a knife in the heart

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