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Original poster

Why do nhs staff ask this?

118 replies

Realitea · 06/04/2019 21:10

I took dd in today to a walk in centre and one of the first things they asked was if we were mum and dad and then if we’re known to social services. I thought that was a bit of an odd question. I just wondered if they ask everyone this or whether they were judging me and dh?
Maybe I’m overthinking a bit!

OP posts:
kaytee87 · 07/04/2019 03:01

I've never been asked this.

KatyN · 07/04/2019 04:58

My most mumsnety moment was when my youngest was admitted recently and the nurse phrased the question ‘do you have any support at home?’
I was massively stressed out and I nearly said ‘we have a cleaner’ before I realised what she meant.
I didn’t comment on the naiseness if my ham.

NameChangeSameRage · 07/04/2019 05:24

They asked who lives at home to get a picture. Remember, nobody knew Peter Connelly's abuser was living there.
They ask who the adult is- Victoria Climbié was under the radar living with an aunt. She also wasn't at school- another possible red flag if they had asked.

Remember how people asked why nobody did anything? Well, they are trying and still being criticised. One of the main criticisms from both those cases was poor sharing of information.

redexpat · 07/04/2019 06:08

Very good point namechange

LoubyLou1234 · 07/04/2019 06:20

Asked to everyone, it's safeguarding It's about sharing information. The social worker may be involved for a number of reasons and often they need to be informed of an admission. Unfortunately some people also do lie especially if it's in suspicious circumstances. Never seen the scoring in appearance though. Sometimes it may be noted if it's particularly bad as it could be a sign of neglect.
If something is missed between professionals they would be the ones at fault, they can't win, lots of high profile deaths of children caused massive changes to safeguarding and multi agency links. Not about judging.

Cannyhandleit · 07/04/2019 06:26

My 4 year old has health issues and we spend a lot of time going to out of hours/a&e and I have never been asked that question!

Cannyhandleit · 07/04/2019 06:27

The ss question, they always ask if I'm mum or carer!

LoubyLou1234 · 07/04/2019 06:29

Also HCP are well trained to spot abuse not just dirty pjs it's about more than that. Poorly kids won't be immaculate and may be in dirty clothes but neglected kids May have bad teeth, bruises, really dirty clothes, be very underweight etc.

Certainly where I come from no one judges a certain type of parent, in our experience we've come across abuse from all walks of life. It's in our training not to judge or assume certain family types will have social worker or abuse their children because it's not true! Not about judging if you have a social worker, many do l it's about keeping children safe.

Whatad · 07/04/2019 06:39

Interestingly, I was at a conference on neglect recently and a fair amount of talk was on the opposite- the children who are always immaculate and are scared to behave like kids because they're never allowed to have a hair out of place.

And it has taken until 2019 to figure this out?

Sirzy · 07/04/2019 06:45

It’s one of the bog standard triage questions at our local peads A and E. We were such frequent fliers at one point I knew where the question came on the form when asked!

BiscuitDrama · 07/04/2019 06:46

What did they mean by ‘do you have any support at home?’ Katy
I still don’t get that. I have a horrible feeling I’ve been asked that and made a comment about a semi useful DH. I’m now thinking that isn’t what they meant. Blush

LookImAHooman · 07/04/2019 07:05

Biscuit I assume they mean SS or just HV-type support. I guess for those who do, the question will more likely mean something (I’d be another whose first thought would be DH/DM/nursery).

Sockwomble · 07/04/2019 07:10

Ds has a social worker but we/he don't get any support at home so I would have said no to that question.

happypotamus · 07/04/2019 07:16

Where I work everyone is asked these questions. I work in the hospital and some A&E staff recognise me when I bring my own DC, but they still ask if we have a SW along with all the other questions on the form. I ask the adults who are with a patient how they are related to the patient. It is useful to know whether to refer to them as 'mummy' or 'daddy' or not to the young child, we need to know if they have PR and can give consent if needed and we need to be careful about confidentiality and giving out information to people who are not the parents.
However, I am not aware of any scoring system for how dirty and unkempt a child or their clothes appears. We would just document it in the child's notes if they appeared excessively dirty or inappropriately dressed (being in pyjamas if you are ill is not something that would be concerning) in case it became part of a bigger picture of concerns.

stucknoue · 07/04/2019 07:19

Because they need to ascertain if you have parental authority, you could be anyone

abracadabraba · 07/04/2019 07:19

I now feel offended by the nhs that they didn’t think I appeared middle class. I was wearing my incredibly expensive boots aswell ** 😂

I know you claim this is a joke but actually this is why you posted I'd guess.

AlaskanOilBaron · 07/04/2019 07:48

It does smack of a big brother state, but it's a standard question in London anyway.

AlaskanOilBaron · 07/04/2019 07:52

Mine went to well known London Independents. Always got a raised eyebrow and dirty look from nursing staff

I doubt that's why you got dirty looks from the nursing staff. You sound like hard work.

Sirzy · 07/04/2019 07:55

Why does wanting to ensure joint up care for vulnerable young people smack of a big brother state?

BiscuitDrama · 07/04/2019 07:59

Thanks Hooman that makes sense.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 07/04/2019 08:01

I took my ds to A&E after a sporting injury when he was 14. They asked him rather than me and he said "yes" when the dr asked if he had ever seen a social worker. There was a long pause before ds clarified that I'm a social worker and he sees me every day!
It's a standard question. They ask everyone

MiniEggAddiction · 07/04/2019 08:11

@whatad no one said this is new information just that it's part of the training program to help identify vulnerable children. Which is a good thing. Why are you so angry at social services and NHS staff trying to identify children who might need help? Would you rather they just didn't bother?

TanMateix · 07/04/2019 08:13

They used to ask before, but only if your kid had arrived to A&E for the third time in a year (not difficult if your child has a chronic condition).

Last time there, they asked him who was his GP, what was the country he grew up at, what school was he in and a lot of questions about Rugby. In these times of Brexit, I thought they were trying to assess if he had a right to free treatment.

DS was as amused as I was offended. We are British!

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 07/04/2019 08:15

I went to a minor injuries unit recently, and was asked if i had anyone living with me at home. I was there for something that really didn't affect my ability to look after myself even if I did live alone, and went straight from work so was smartly presented. Still makes me wonder why they asked that.

BiBiBirdie · 07/04/2019 08:23

Don't worry, DSIL is a nurse, she was asked at the A&E at the hospital she works at whether DNephew was known to SS. To make matters worse, DNephew had three bone break injuries within a few months (skateboarding, clearly not his specialist skill) so they did indeed report her to SS who turned up unannounced. DSIL was not amused.