More than 160 children under the age of 18 died in Swindon and Wiltshire in the five years from April 2018 to March 2023.

But analysis by the Wiltshire Child Death Overview Panel in 2023 suggests that in most cases there are no ‘modifiable factors’ - those which may have contributed to the child’s death and which could be addressed at a local or national level.

The report by the panel to the Swindon Health and Wellbeing board says: “We are fortunate that a child death is a rare event in our society, however, each death represents a tragedy for the family, community and professionals involved. The purpose of the Child Death Review process is to identify potentially modifiable factors which may prevent future deaths from occurring.

The report says in the last year the panel review 36 cases, 26 of which were in Wiltshire and 10 in Swindon.

It says ‘modifiable factors’ were identified in 20 per cent of deaths in Swindon and a third of Swindon cases, but: “The most common cause of death for children across Wiltshire and Swindon remains a perinatal or neonatal event. The second most common categorisation was chromosomal, with the majority of child deaths occurring in the first month of life.”

The report was to be discussed by the Health & Wellbeing Board at its meeting on November 21 at the Civic Offices.