What are the intended and unintended consequences of the SiHIS pilot and report?

James Holmes Barrister Garden Court Chambers

Over six months into the Department for Education’s Suspected Inflicted Head Injury Service (SIHIS) pilot its impact remains unclear. This article examines significant legal and forensic concerns focusing on how the pilot can restrict the role of Part 25 experts in Non-Accidental Head Injury (NAHI) cases—cases with profound medical complexity that could result in permanently severing a parent-child relationship. The article also emphasises that neither public law practitioners nor judges possess the specialised medical knowledge that experts accumulate over years of clinical work research and experience – and the invaluable insight the latter provides should not be cast aside in NAI cases. The SIHIS pilot raises critical questions: without a Part 25 expert's neutral evaluation how can courts adequately identify non-inflicted organic causes for alleged NAHI? And can we really afford to take these risks when losing a child is at stake? This article concludes how those involved in the SIHIS Pilot as it stands should do more to ensure justice is the priority and to illuminate...