WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: A Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR) undertaken in Rochdale found that the toddler, referred to as Child K1, was left severely neglected14:05, 29 Jul 2026An "incredibly emaciated" 19-month-old toddler who was "wasting to the buttocks" and covered in sores was rushed to hospital in critical condition 19 days after social services closed her case, a review revealed.‌A Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR) in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, reported that the toddler, anonymised as Child K1 in the records, was left severely dehydrated and had no fatty tissue on her body when she was brought to critical care in 2024. Weighing just 9.7lb (4.4kg) at the time, the review also described her as having "paper-thin skin", and noted that her open pressure sores had extended along her back, hips and bottom.‌She was taken to receive urgent medical attention after a case exploring alleged neglect at the hands of her mum, who was just 17 when the baby was born, was closed.‌The CSPR review was undertaken by expert reviewer Nicki Walker-Hall, who discovered that the toddler's mum had struggled with anxiety and low mood since giving birth, and relied on her own mum, the child's grandmother, for her care.It was the grandmother who took her to hospital for an initial visit in April 2024, due to her refusing feeds overnight. During that appointment, another member of the family told hospital staff that the toddler was being "neglected" by her mother, whom she claimed to have seen sleeping on a couch while her daughter cried alone upstairs.‌The review added that the hospital referred the case to Rochdale's Children's Social Care team, which sent personnel to conduct a visit with the mother, and later concluded she was "willing to accept support". While the team was unable to reach the mum over the following few weeks, health visitors conducted visits and found the "basic needs" of the child seemed to be being met.Ms Walker-Hall found the situation changed following an anonymous tip to Rochdale's Early Help and Safeguarding Hub (EHASH), which was submitted in mid-December 2024.The tipper alleged that the child was in a state of severe neglect, with her hair left matted, fingernails left long and dirty, clothes left dirty and unchanged, and was "leaking wax" from her ears. Social workers were deployed to the home on the same day the tip was submitted, and confirmed the toddler's condition.‌But they were unable to get the "upset" mum to consent to social care involvement, forcing the team to follow up by phone, with "numerous calls" made in the following weeks between January 7 and 21 2025.They attempted to change her mind and engage with Child and Family Assessment, but Ms Walker-Hall wrote in her review that these attempts "were unsuccessful". It was decided following a multi-agency strategy meeting that the "threshold had not been met" to progress the case under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989, and the case was closed.Local authorities are required under that legislation to investigate whether there was reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering, or likely to suffer "significant harm". The report stated that 19 days after that strategy meeting in February 2025, the child was admitted to hospital.‌She was admitted to critical care weighing less than half the average a child should have at her age. Ms Walker-Hall noted that she was suffering from a laundry list of complications from her condition, and found they could have "led to death" if emergency treatment had not been administered in time.She wrote: "Child K1's presentation of hypothermia, hypoglycaemia [low blood sugar], severe malnutrition, dehydration along with renal failure, evidenced by severe abnormality of blood salts, could have led to death if it had not been identified and emergency treatment initiated."Noting the tissue loss and general degradation of the child's body, Ms Walker-Hall said in her review: "Child K1 was found to have paper thin skin and there was generalised severe musclewastage.‌"There was no fatty tissue noted on Child K1’s body. There was wasting to the buttocks and pressure sores extending along the spine down to the sacrum and across the bony prominences of the sacrum and hip bones on the lower back (posteriorsuperior iliac spines). There was excoriated skin breakdown across the entirety of thenappy area/ genitals and evidence of severe clinical dehydration, renal failure, and malnutrition on serial blood tests."The review concluded there were several "learning points" from the case, including that practitioners would need to be "more curious" about a child's every day experience, and that more should have been done to investigate the care she was receiving from her family.Ms Walker-Hall concluded that it was "problematic" that officials had decided not to proceed to Section 47 due to having secured only partial information. She wrote: "Those attending the strategy meeting did nothave complete information in relation to signs of neglect. Those present needed to consider whether they had sufficient information to be able to make a decision.Article continues below"They had an option to gather further information and complete the child and family assessment to better inform their decision making. The strategy meeting could then have been reconvened."A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough’s Safeguarding Children Partnership, said: “We accept the findings of the recent review and are taking action to ensure existing policies and procedures are followed by all professionals to ensure the safety of our children and young people.”