AN INQUIRY into the death of a toddler who apparently drowned in a bathtub after being left alone by her “depressed” mother has concluded there is no evidence to suggest that child protection agencies in Waltham Forest could have prevented the tragedy.

A serious case review into 'Child Z', who died in the borough one year ago in May 2009, said that the death could not have been predicted but that some agencies were not kept fully informed about the family's situation.

The two-and-a-half-year-old, who is identified in the report only as a white British girl, suffered from a delayed development illness, while her mother also had a long history of depression and postnatal depression.

The report noted that research suggests that parents suffering from such conditions sometimes neglect areas of their child's care, but that in this case the family's GP practice “repeatedly failed” to pass on information about the mother's depression to childcare services.

It also said that its investigation found that Waltham Forest's Children and Young People Service's department suffered from management weaknesses and was “inadequate” in its delivery of services.

Nonetheless the report's authors said that without the results of an on-going police investigation it was impossible to say whether such shortcomings would have made a significant difference to what happened.

The report said that the mother, herself a health worker, was reportedly feeling “low” at the time of the incident and had recently experienced the death of her “three closest relatives” just a few months before.

It said: “Ms Y [the mother] reported that in May 2009 she left child Z alone in the bath for a minute or two. She heard a cry and returned to find her under the water and not breathing.

“Ms Y reportedly initiated resuscitation of her daughter, dialled emergency services and following further on site treatment from road and air based paramedics, child Z was admitted to hospital.”

The child died four days later.

The report added that there could have been a better understanding of the mother's mental health and the potential connection it had with how she cared for her child.

But it also said: “The family was in receipt of a significant level of services from the statutory health, welfare and voluntary sectors, with several examples of excellent practice which were and remain valued by the parents.”

The report added that recommendations such as better training and updating of guidelines for dealing with such cases had now been implemented in the borough.