HEALTH services have been criticised for the standard of care given to a baby killed by his mother after months of sustained abuse.

Baby J’s fatal injuries were so severe they were likened to those suffered by a victim of a road accident.

Older injuries were also discovered, including fractures to the skull, both legs, one arm and a rib.

His mother, who cannot be named, was found guilty of manslaughter at the Old Bailey last month.

She subjected her three-month-old son to repeated abuse at a flat in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, while her partner was at work.

But the case never came to the attention of social services because healthcare workers did not collect enough information, according to a review into the baby’s death.

The family had lived in at addresses in Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest and saw health visitors in all three boroughs, as well as using Whipps Cross and University College Hospitals.

The report said: “there were opportunities for improved information gathering, record keeping and communication that may have led to a different assessment of need and the provision of different services.

“There is a lack of systematic collection of information, analysis and recommendation. Expected standards were not met.”

The serious case review goes on to say that “limited consideration” was given to the family’s mobility, youth, their first language or that they were newly resident in the country.

It pointed out that the mother, a Slovakian, spoke good English and her understanding was good, so health staff assessed that she was able to understand how to access health services.

Child Safety experts have said newly arrived families are “over represented” in serious case reviews, which are launched when a child dies and abuse or neglect is suspected or known.

But the problem of keeping track of these children as they move from area to area is compounded by a lack of resources.

In February last year health visitors told the Guardian they feared a repeat of the Victoria Climbie tragedy after the primary care trust cut 40 per cent of Waltham Forest’s health visitors.

Worried staff said they could not reach each child, with a mobile population and cultural differences making it more difficult to do so.

The report recommended improved information collection and communication between the borough’s health services and council.

It said agencies should also ensure that policies and staff training take into consideration of mobility, particularly among ethnic minorities who speak English as a second language.

Regular audits were recommended, and the primary care trust was urged to set up a system of follow-up checks after discharge from hospital.

The board also thought GPs should contact health visitors when children are registered as patients to find out if any treatment or routine services have been missed.

A spokesman for NHS Waltham Forest said that it has developed an action plan that is updated regularly to ensure it implements all the recommendations.