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AIBU?

Sueing for gross misconduct / negligence / failing to report broken arm

133 replies

Kerrance · 28/06/2015 21:12

Hi the situation is this my son whos just 3. This friday i picked him up from nursery at 5 (he goes 4 days aweek 9-5) he looked very pale and was irritable. Staff said nothing to me about ANY kind of injury/acident or voiced any concerns after arriving home i noticed he was holding hos arm in a strage postion, i saw his arm was very swollen. When asked about it his words were "i fell over at nursery and couldnt stand up B** (staff member) had to carry me", far from being very annoyed nothing was said. I try and call but its closed I applied cold compress and he eventually driffed off to sleep in my arms. Hours later he wakes with the most horrific cry.... We rush to AnE its now 7.45AM..... He is xrayed = greenstick fracture to his right wrist he is put in a semi pot banage to allow swelling to go down....monday morning is our app for full pot on.... My question is do i call the nursery in the morning and ask to see the RIDDOR report or should i arrange a meeting and ask for it then ( i dont want to allow then time to cover it up) which ever way its looked at they have been negligent in informing me of a serious injury / no one saw the fall (left unsupervised) breaching the duty of care/ it was logged as minor injury- if so they need to retrain staff in 1st aid and i want a full incident report and to know whom is held accountable ....... Am lost as to which is the correct approach and what to say to ensure im taken seriously and its dealt wiv properly.... Any help very much appreciated

OP posts:

Report

Klayden · 28/06/2015 21:15

The fact that no one saw the fall does not mean that they were left unsupervised. However, YANBU to arrange a meeting to investigate further. Of course they should have told you that he was hurt.

Kerrance · 28/06/2015 21:18

Doctor says he would have been unable to get himself upright without help (hypermobility in both ankels) so someone knew about it. His arm was swollen and limp. I just not sure how to or who to explain it all too

OP posts:

LIZS · 28/06/2015 21:20

Not sure that suing should be your first instinct. Request an urgent meeting with the manager. You need to ask what happened when, if and how it was recorded, why no one thought it was serious enough to alert you either at the time or at pick up. How have protocols failed and what action will be taken to ensure no repetition. Once you have more information you can decide if there is a need to go to Ofsted or council.

Did the doctors indicate whether the reaction to the accident seemed appropriate ie. If he should have been moved, been in obvious pain which needed pain relief. Some fractures are very difficult to recognise to the untrained eye , as you now understand having not felt the need to go to a and e sooner.

Bunbaker · 28/06/2015 21:21

So, a staff member knew he was hurt and they didn't tell you.

This is completely unacceptable. You need to talk to the nursery as soon as you can. If a staff member had to carry him I'm not sure it should have been logged as a minor injury. They are clearly in breach of H & S guidelines.

12purpleapples · 28/06/2015 21:22

Do you think they were aware it was a fracture and didn't tell you?

ollieplimsoles · 28/06/2015 21:22

From what you have said they handled it appallingly. You said when you picked him up that his arm was very swollen, thats a classic sign if a break or fracture and it should have been a red flag for nursery staff. If it was my son who.had been at nursery with a broken wrist, couldn't get up without help, and they didn't even mention a fall to you when you picked him up.

Take it further, definitely.

Icimoi · 28/06/2015 21:25

They should of course have told you he was hurt. However, I'm not too sure what you'd be suing for. You don't know how the fall happened, so you can't prove that it was due to negligence - accidents of this type can perfectly easily happen when someone is supervised. I doubt that you can complain that they didn't realise how bad it was and take him to A&E, because you didn't either for several hours.

youareallbonkers · 28/06/2015 21:25

Another one who doesn't notice broken bones but wants to blame everyone else

MammaTJ · 28/06/2015 21:29

As someone who sent their DS in to school with 2 a greenstick fracture s I am not the best person to ask.

DS hurt his arm, we decided MIU would say to wait till the next day (Monday morning) and return him for x-ray. We thought we would see how he was then take him if needed. He seemed fine. I took him to school, he was fine all day. At the end of mat time, he forgot he had a bad arm, leant on it to get up then howled like a stuck pig! I took him straight to MIU on pick up and the pictures were not pretty!

DD had previously had one and been sent away from MIU! They reassured me no harm had been done in the 24 hours before the x-ray was done on our 2nd visit (hence my relaxed attitude with DS).

My point is, greenstick fractures are easily missed, even by HCP. Don't be too harsh on the nursery.

Do have a conversation with them about how things could be better managed next time it happens to a child in their care though! I have certainly learnt lessons myself.

Kerrance · 28/06/2015 21:31

Worst of all ive no idea if it happened in the morning afternoon or just before i arrived.. Thanks all for your help 9am i will rong to arrange meeting as soon as i get bk frpm hosp

OP posts:

MammaTJ · 28/06/2015 21:32

Oh goodness, just spotted you want to sue! Why is that peoples first recourse nowadays?

You don't have a snowballs chance in hell tbh!

We rush to AnE its now 7.45AM you noticed the NEXT DAY! They had less time to notice than you did and you want to blame them?

Get over yourself!

Klayden · 28/06/2015 21:33

The staff member dealt with the injured child but did not report it to their parent - that's the issue.

Cheby · 28/06/2015 21:34

I would go straight in tomorrow morning and ask to speak to the manager then and there. I would want to see the incident report and have them explain why you weren't informed on friday. And I wouldn't call to arrange ahead of time either, I think better to catch them on the spot and see a true reaction, not a rehearsed one.

SilverBirchWithout · 28/06/2015 21:34

He's 4 years old for goodness sake and was exhibiting signs of pain whilst he was still at Nursery.

Yes accidents do happen anywhere, but I would hope and expect any place that has responsible for children's care to have proper processes in place when they do. If they had told the OP about the incident she or them could have got the child to A&E quickly. For a parent to be kept in the dark like this a serious breach in their procedures, assuming they have them.

DawnOfTheDoggers · 28/06/2015 21:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MammaTJ · 28/06/2015 21:37

Pain with a greenstick fracture can be variable as experienced by my two youngest DC. Maybe he seemed fine, that would be the assumption I would go in with, the one that would get a more positive response!

Dancingqueen17 · 28/06/2015 21:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SophieJenkins · 28/06/2015 21:39

Not sure why people are comparing your not realising he was hurt with the nursery not realising he was hurt.

It's different - nothing happened to him that could have caused an injury like that while in your care, so why would you think he was badly hurt, especially as they hadn't told you he'd fallen. You would assume that the nursery would have realised if a serious injury had occurred on their watch.

When it happened someone should have made sure there was no real damage, and should at least have told you there had been an incident.

I would approach the nursery ASAP without giving them time to get their story straight first.

Noodledoodledoo · 28/06/2015 21:39

I have a nurse friend who didn't notice her nursery aged child had a greenstick fracture in her arm for 3 days and witnessed the accident.

The swelling may not have come on straight away, the same worker who saw the accident may not have spotted him holding his arm later on, other staff may not have 'joined the dots'

Check they filled in the accident report, ask why they didn't inform you but fractures are very hard to spot/diagnose and I know a lot of medics who struggle as one GP said to me on a first aid training- I don't have x-ray vision so I am just as able to spot it as you.

SophieJenkins · 28/06/2015 21:41

You know, I mean if your child falls while in your care you are watching out for signs of serious injury. (well you should be)

If you don't know they have fallen then it won't be your first thought that they might be walking around with a broken bone, will it?

The nursery is seriously at fault here, not following procedure apart from anything else.

jamdonut · 28/06/2015 21:41

Children are not always obvious with breaks. My son broke his arm aged 2 1/2 after jumping on my bed and falling off. He cried when he did it, but was still using his arm when I took him to a+e to be checked. I felt sure they were going to say it was just sprained...but no it was a greenstick fracture!

Nursery should have mentioned the accident, but I don't think you should be so quick to sue!!!

LovelyFriend · 28/06/2015 21:42

Of course you can sue.

A girl at DD's nursery had a similar incident - broken arm at nursery, nothing reported etc. The nursery were seen to be negligent and the girl received several thousand pounds.

They should have called you when he had the accident especially as it was series enough for him to have to be picked up and carried. They should have told you about the accident and what time it happened. They didn't. Sure mistakes can happen but this was a series of mistakes around the serious injury of a young child who was in their care. They have not acted properly.

My DD dislocated her elbow a few times - not as painful as a break, but her reaction was to go very quiet. My point is children don't necessarily express themselves the way we think they might when they are injured and in pain. Nursery workers should know this better than most.

Hope your DS is feeling much better soon.

fuctifino · 28/06/2015 21:42

I don't think they will have a RIDDOR report as he didn't go to hospital from their premises. Maybe check that out before going desk thumping.

I don't think they were necessarily negligent in not spotting a broken arm. Yes, maybe they should have erred on the side of caution and called you up or taken him to a&e had you not been available.

As for wanting to sue. No, I don't think it is entirely appropriate in these circumstances.

SophieJenkins · 28/06/2015 21:43

Plus he will have made a fuss at the time of the incident and perhaps not so much later on while in the OP's care.

You can't say 'you didn't notice it, why should they?' because a) they will have been present when it happened and picked him up, b) he will have made a lot of noise probably at the time and c) they knew what had happened while the OP only had a 4yo's description.

They didn't even tell her he had fallen over though.

crispandfruity · 28/06/2015 21:46

My dd had a greenstick fracture to her arm after falling one morning while getting out of bed. I didn't spot it and sent her to school. School didn't spot it and she did pe etc. It was only at bedtime when she was in pain that we noticed something was wrong and even then we didn't exactly rush to a+e. Accidents happen I'm afraid.

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