Plans to reform children's services have been criticised by both government leaders and management within the NHS.

The document in question, Serving Children Well: a new vision for young people's services, acknowledges that the vast spectrum of children's services can contribute to poor coordination and leadership both at a local and national level.

Because of this, the report suggests a "service hub" of health, education and social services run by a multi-disciplinary team that delivers or commissions all children's services.

Critics of the scheme propose the establishment of a network of local teams to coordinate health, education and social services, reports the Guardian.

The Victoria Climbié inquiry clearly showed a complete breakdown in multi-agency working. In this tragic case social workers, police, doctors and nurse admitting they were confused about their roles and responsibilities and hoe they interlinked.

The proposed changes should nurture the cooperation between areas such as mainstream health, education and social services and specialist services, such as child protection.