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Nursery not following their own policy

16 replies

yuliant123 · 28/02/2017 15:48

Hello,

My child started a new nursery, but after a number of issues with the staff I decided to pull him out after his second day there.

  1. My DC (18mths old) is allergic to nuts and I sent his medication with him on his first day (a strong one with serious side effects). Got a call on his second day saying that DC has just been given the medication because DC was crying, had red face and coughing. DC had common cold at that time, buy they thought it was an allergic reaction. They didn't attempt to call us or a doctor/emergency/etc. prior to giving the medication. Their policy says that they'd try to contact parents/doctor first, which they didn't. They didn't give us any medical information form to fill in before DC started the nursery and I didn't receive a written report when I came to pick up DC on that day.
    The staff has almost no experience working at nursery and they all seem to be so unconfident, not familiar with their own policies, etc.

  2. They have toys in the room that are not suitable for small children. Small wooden pegs that my DC started to put into mouth first thing. Manufacturer clearly states that this toy is for 3+ only. When I tried to bring this to the attention of the nursery nurses/nursery owners they didn't seem to be bothered and just tried to reassure me that this is safe.

    I'm trying to get my deposit back (£1,250) but they keep saying that they only return the deposit if all the payments are made and if you give 2 months notice. But given the above I assume the contract can be terminated and we shouldn't be liable for any fees and the deposit should be refunded.

    What do you think?

    Many thanks
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wobblywonderwoman · 28/02/2017 15:50

I think I would get some legal advice, that is a lot of money to lose and they did breech their policy.

I would put the concerns in writing to them saying that you are getting legal advice and are concerned for you childs welfare.

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yuliant123 · 28/02/2017 15:58

thanks wobblywonderwoman. Yes, we've exchanged a number of emails with them, but they keep saying that they acted correctly and refuse to give any refund. Legal advisor recommended us getting in touch with ofsted (done) and using Moneyclaim online (but it means spending more money on small court fees).

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wobblywonderwoman · 28/02/2017 16:00

That doesn't seem fair at all. But I think I would take the risk and pursue it. Have you evidence all contact with them. Can you prove they didn't try to contact you re:medication.

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murdershewrote · 28/02/2017 16:04

Why on earth did you choose this nursery in the first place? Did you not pick up on these things when you went to view it and for settling in sessions?

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yuliant123 · 28/02/2017 16:04

thanks wobblywonderwoman, how would you evidence that they didn't try to contact me? take a photo of our mobile phone screen over that day?

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LIZS · 28/02/2017 16:10

Surely in a real emergency while it would be nice to contact gp/you before to giving medication the priority is to make the child safe. I wonder if you might have been a little overhasty in your reaction. Is it a Montessori nursery, which encourages exploratory play with toys and objects rather than by age.

Moneyclaim online fees are relatively low iirc.

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wobblywonderwoman · 28/02/2017 16:13

It so hard to pick from settling in sessions - you cannot take in everything.

Yes. Think I would get evidence from the phone comany. They would have a record.

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yuliant123 · 28/02/2017 16:16

yes this is a Montessori nursery, LIZS, how did you know?

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LIZS · 28/02/2017 16:19

They have a more relaxed approach to age appropriateness, under supervision of course, and structure. Did they explain the ethos to you on your visits?

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yuliant123 · 28/02/2017 16:26

no, not really, I only visited them once and it was a settling in session the day before DC started full time (45 minutes in total). they messed a bit with organising these sessions because they had some delays and uncertainty about the day when they can open the nursery (this is a new one and they waited for an ofsted certificate to arrive), so the sessions were organised in a rush within a very short notice and now they blame me for not giving them the time to fill in all the forms, getting to know my DC, etc.

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insancerre · 28/02/2017 19:15

I have cared for children with life threatening allergies and our policy is to give medication first before ringing anyone
epi pen then 999 then parent
Piriton etc then parent
Are you sure their policy is to ring first as their first consideration should be towards the child not the parent

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Littlefish · 03/03/2017 19:57

I agree with insancerre.

We give medication in cases of an allergic reaction, before contacting parents. In fact, the order is:

Medication
Ambulance
Parents

However, we also make sure that we have worked with the parent to complete a care plan detailing exactly what the child might react to, what a child's reaction looks like and what to do if a reaction occurs. This is all done before the child starts at nursery. It sounds like this has not happened in your case.

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jannier · 07/03/2017 14:22

In cases of life threatening illness it would be normal to act first call later by the time they look out your number and call you a child with serious allergies could be dead.

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Willow2017 · 07/03/2017 16:48

I wouldn't be hanging around getting parents phone number them calling them waiting for them to answer, telling them the problem before administering a medication while I watched their child have a potentially life threatening reaction to something.
They obviously could have phoned to tell you what had happened and gave you the opportunity to come see him. For normal meds like calpol they could have phoned you first but not for this occasion. Do you have a care plan for your child in the e ent of allergic reactions?

What would you be posting about if they had waited and he went into anaphylactic shock?

Sounds like they are not up to speed with policies and procedures yet which they should be but teething problems happen. The toys aren't really a problem if kids are supervised.
They should have had the medical incident logged and you should have got a copy of it.
Not sure if you could cite breach of policy when they reacted to a potentially fatal condition they are not medically trained to decide in a child they only just met if it was real or not.

Check your contract, talk to the manager again about what happened and what tbey would do in future but if they still refuse to discuss you will have to chance the legal route to.get your money back.

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yuliant123 · 16/06/2017 12:33

Just as an update for anyone who could be in a similar situation - went to a small claim court (simple procedure, takes 5 min online), made a claim and got our deposit back in 2 weeks time.

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PersianCatLady · 16/06/2017 12:40

how would you evidence that they didn't try to contact me? take a photo of our mobile phone screen over that day?
That doesn't prove anything unfortunately because you could have deleted the call log or whatever.

If this went to court and the nursery said that they did contact you then surely they would have proof of the call on their itemised phone bill?

I am sure that if they didn't have any proof of calling you or didn't want to show it then the court may decide that you were not notified.

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