call for an independent inquiry into a toddler's death.

Dr. Peter Perinchief said two-year-old D'shun Dill's short life should be examined to determine what went wrong in the Department of Child and Family Services.

And Shadow Minister of Health and Social Services, Renee Webb, issued a similar call in the House of Assembly yesterday.

"We know the system failed because a child is dead and that is what this whole thing is about. The baby's death was an absolute event,'' said Dr.

Perinchief.

"Therefore the legitimacy of the system and how things are followed up are being questioned and an inquiry would address the public concern this matter has raised.'' Added Ms Webb in the House: "I don't think an internal investigation is objective enough.'' And she called on the Department of Child and Family Services to use the Dill case as a stepping stone and as a process of learning from its mistakes.

"I'm not out to embarrass the Minister or to ask for punishment for those responsible for the oversight. I just feel we in this House have a responsibility to ensure this never happens again,'' said Ms Webb.

Minister of Health and Social Services Dr. Clarence Terceira was not in the House to respond.

That responsibility fell to the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Quinton Edness, who told members that Government shared their concerns, but it was up to the Minister of Health and Social Services to order such an investigation.

Renewed calls for an investigation echo that of Coalition for the Protection of Children chairwoman Sheelagh Cooper who broke her silence over D'shun's December, 1994, death when the boy's father, Paul Darrell, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for killing the baby.

She said an independent inquiry was the only way the public could expect to get accurate information about D'shun's death.

During an inquest into the child's death, it emerged that a social worker went to D'shun's home five days before he died after receiving an anonymous call that a child had been seriously beaten.

Family Services' social worker Marionette Hollis told the inquest that she went to the right address but could not locate the person whose name she had been given.

She said she left and did not conduct any further checks because her information was vague.

Dr. Perinchief said: "The purpose of an independent inquiry here is to go back over the entire episode step by step to see where the weak link was.

"It must be done in a business-like fashion to see exactly where the system broke down and correct any weaknesses.'' But he added that the inquiry should not take the form of a witch hunt.

Doctor calls for inquiry into death of two-year-old "It should not be used to point the finger of blame at anybody but we must make sure the sequence of events do not break down again.

"Clearly, no-one should be pilloried for this. This should not be seen as a witch hunt. It should be seen as an attempt to go through the system and find where it broke down and never let it happen again.'' Dr. Perinchief said: "The point is that the Social Services people knew there was a problem with this baby, that the baby was at risk, and the system failed the baby who paid the ultimate price.

"We must ensure the system is more efficient next time the problem pops up and it will.

"Then everyone in the system will know there are certain steps to follow through to the bitter end and not walk away when you knock on someone's door and nobody answers.'' Dr. Perinchief said he also hoped that the issue did not become "a political football''.

"This was a child's life and it involves the whole community. I would hate to see it become a political football.'' Dr. Perinchief said he had little involvement in the case except he was asked by authorities to form an opinion on how the baby died.

He said he had seen similar cases but could not compare between them. He said it was important to note that each case had top be treated independently as they had different circumstances, players, environments and precipitating events -- although the end result was the same.

He noted that physicians were the "gatekeepers'' in these circumstances and were responsible for setting the mechanisms in motion if something wrong arose.

And Dr. Perinchief brushed aside the need for confidentiality in these matters.

"In my view, confidentiality has no role when it comes to a situation of child abuse where a child is battered or harmed. The first response of a physician is to see a child is protected.'' HEALTH HTH