THE Scottish Executive has been accused of a “whitewash” amid fears that a major review of child protection cases may never be published.

Lawyers say the internal review has been shrouded in secrecy and are demanding ministers publish its findings.

It comes as dozens of parents in Scotland claim to have been wrongly diagnosed with the discredited condition Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy (MSBP) – a theory that some parents deliberately harm their children in order to draw attention to themselves.

A recent investigation by The Scotsman found 12 families accused of MSBP, resulting in 19 children being placed in care. Two have been adopted, with no prospect of ever returning home.

Eric Scott, an Edinburgh-based solicitor representing two women whose lives were blighted by allegations of abuse, said the review by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) was little more than a paper-chasing exercise.

He said: “I gave them two clients to investigate about concerns involving MSBP, but I have heard nothing. I have genuine concerns about the way these cases were handled.

“My concern is that simply opening up social work files is not giving parents the opportunity to put their side of the story. It’s not difficult for people to understand that this is a whitewash.”

Critics believe the issue of MSBP is not being taken seriously by the authorities in Scotland, despite a public outcry in England when it emerged mothers had been wrongly convicted of child abuse.

Lawyers are demanding a complete overhaul of the child protection system in Scotland, and a public inquiry to establish the facts about how many families have been broken up because of MSBP.

Mr Scott said the Scottish children’s panel system had failed many young people who, with their parents, are victims of a miscarriage of justice.

Like many lawyers, he is calling for medical evidence to be re-examined.

“They need to re-interview all the people involved in the children being taken into care,” he said. “We need to reinvestigate the medical information to see if it’s valid. This has been challenged south of the Border, and there are grave misgivings about the diagnosis of MSBP.

“Just a couple of weeks ago, I was approached by another client in the north of Scotland who is facing the same allegations of MSBP. I feel very strongly that the method of inquiry and its results should be made public.”

SCRA launched an internal review in January, investigating whether it was valid for children to be removed from their parents and placed in local authority care.

It follows a number of high-profile cases exposed in England where mothers were jailed for murder on the strength of so-called expert witnesses.

As many as 5,000 children in England and Wales are said to have been taken into care over the past 15 years on the strength of MSBP, a theory pioneered by Professor Sir Roy Meadow.

The Scotsman understands the paediatrician has intervened in cases in Scotland. It was his evidence that helped convict solicitor Sally Clark when she was accused of murdering her two sons. At her trial in 1999, he said the chances of two members of the same family dying of cot death were “73 million to one”. That figure has since been cast into doubt by research, and Mrs Clark’s conviction was quashed last year.

The professor’s testimony also helped to imprison Angela Cannings, who recently was cleared of murdering two of her children.

Child protection sources said yesterday that social workers and doctors were overwhelmed by a mass hysteria that resulted in a witch-hunt to identify mothers with MSBP.

Earlier this month, a mother accused of attempting to murder her baby son launched a landmark case in the Scottish courts challenging MSBP in an attempt to clear her name. The first action of its kind in Scotland, it will prove an important test case that could open the floodgates to damages claims dating back 30 years.

Last night her solicitor, Massimo Franchi, said SCRA’s internal review lacked transparency, and only an independent inquiry would satisfy the public.

He said: “None of my clients has been contacted in relation to this review by SCRA.

“Surely the Executive should be contacting solicitors to see if they have concerns about MSBP?

“The whole purpose of a review is to have transparency. Justice has to be seen to be done, otherwise it’s a waste of time.”

The SCRA, a public body funded by the Scottish Executive, completed its review last week and has since passed its findings to ministers.

A spokesman for the Executive said: “Ministers will decide whether or not to publish.”