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Original poster

Baby taken away by social services whilst in A&E

413 replies

napol · 11/11/2019 21:32

Hi

I'm new to Mumsnet but am in desperate need of help/advice or better still has anyone out there been in the same situation as me.

I dropped my 10 month old boy at nursery one morning at 8am. He was his normal self - happy chappy with no injuries. I got a call from the nursery at 4.30pm from the manager saying despite no accident happening at nursery throughout the day he had developed a lump on the side of his head but not to worry as he was in no pain or discomfort but best I get it checked out.

we picked him up and took him to a&e immediately where to our horror he was diagnosed with a fractured skull. because the injury was unexplained social services and police were called and the decision was made not to let us take our baby boy home. We are now under investigation and cannot see him unless supervised. it looks like it will go to court months down the line.

We are innocent of any neglect or wrong doing and it seems to us the nursery are obviously to blame. Understandably we are devastated and heartbroken and just want our boy home

OP posts:
ItsNotMeItsNotMe · 11/11/2019 23:14

Where is the bump Op, if he had a temp they’d of felt his head if it’s that visible wouldn’t they have seen it then?

CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook · 11/11/2019 23:14

I once picked up first DS from nursery with a massive egg on his forehead. Was told by nursery he just 'slipped' on some wet paint no log made in accident book. No attempt to contact me. When I asked to see the book was told it was in a filing cabinet and only the manager had the key and she wasn't available and other bullshit. They constantly prevaricated and were extremely reluctant to tell me the details and have it recorded. I immediately called a nearby acquaintance before I left the nursery to be a witness to my conversation. Then I called the NHS direct number for advice. Was told to take him immediately to A&E or doctor for a checkup. A&E was nearer. Thankfully all was good.

He went back for one more session the following week as I literally had no alternative provision, then never again after that.

Be calm. Make sure the nursery are investigated, but don't assume anything will be logged. Cooperate and get a bloody good lawyer and record all conversation, secretly if necessary.

itsgettingweird · 11/11/2019 23:14

Oh I see ruby sorry I misunderstood.

itsgettingweird · 11/11/2019 23:19

The one issue with asking to see accident book is they can obviously not record. So there's no record. That's why asking about timelines and what they noted with temp etc is important. How did he respond to calpol and why was it 5.5 hours after calpol they rang again. Show that obviously something happened between 8-11am and he was fine until concerns at 4.30pm. Why did they suggest a and e for the bump if they didn't think he'd had an impact in the past 8.5 hours.

It's all about asking for explanations which will draw out the facts. The absence of an accident report proves nothing. The absence of a body map for a child with such an injury does however prove something - it was very unlikely there p!

sarahstanley · 11/11/2019 23:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ItsNotMeItsNotMe · 11/11/2019 23:23

@itsgettingweird is it a legal requirement to have an accident book on site?

Lockheart · 11/11/2019 23:23

In that case OP it sounds like SS have tried to avoid an EPO by asking you to sign the section 20.

Section 20 is a 'voluntary' care arrangement and you need to read the details of your individual agreement carefully with your solicitor before proceeding. They will outline how long the s.20 is in place for and what SS have to do in terms of pre-preceeding meetings etc.

You can withdraw your consent to the section 20, and the LA should have informed you of this right. However I would recommend only trying to do so in writing after input from your solicitor. If you withdraw your consent this may spur SS into a full EPO or interim care order.

DC3dilemma · 11/11/2019 23:24

@napol

So sorry to hear this. This kind of thing is one of the things that terrifies me most- someone interpreting a bump or bruise wrongly and removing my children. The toddler phase is awful for random bruises.

Just wanted to mention a possibility -a baby I knew suffered a fractured skull at nursery. It was a really serious fracture at the front, where skull is pretty tough (sides are weaker). Serious enough that baby got two black eyes and went on to suffer temporal lobe epilepsy. After much heart ache and anger, the eventual explanation was that a heavy item was dropped onto the napping baby from a shelf at the nursery. The story started out as “we don’t know” then “another child threw something” then gradually as the medical evidence suggested possibilities, this was determined to be the most likely scenario.

Anotheruser02 · 11/11/2019 23:25

I used to be a nursery nurse, my friends who still are say that their jobs have changed significantly from interacting to constant recording and observations. One of my friends says they have three ipads in her toddler room so that all of the children can have an observation each every single day (with photos). Does your child's nursery do this constant record keeping? is there any chance he would be in the background of any other child's observation 'evidence'?

Original poster
napol · 11/11/2019 23:25

@sarahstanley dropped him OFF at 8am. he only woke up at 7.15am when he arrived he was absolutely fine, no tears, distress - otherwise they would have recorded to cover themselves

OP posts:
EleanorReally · 11/11/2019 23:27

Do you see him now?

Original poster
napol · 11/11/2019 23:29

his fracture on the side of his head towards the back of his skull

yes they have ipads and take daily photos, something we want police to investigate - maybe they already have

OP posts:
Original poster
napol · 11/11/2019 23:31

currently we can see him for 1 1/2 hrs a day. not ideal but at least we have daily contact. its more the length of time we may have to wait before he comes home which is scary

OP posts:
EleanorReally · 11/11/2019 23:31

I would suspect nursery

almondwhite · 11/11/2019 23:31

Is the nursery investigation going to involve them interviewing other parents to make a picture of the day?

I'm thinking of any other parent who may have brought their child in late, or taken their child away early, and might remember seeing a baby in particular distress or anything odd going on.

It's true that guilty until proven innocent is essentially the rule for child protection, unlike for other crimes. It makes sense that it's like that, but it means that the child protection system is the one place where innocent people do actually have something to fear despite having done nothing wrong.

NemophilistRebel · 11/11/2019 23:32

How stressful for you OP.
I really hope all is sorted o as quickly as possibly
Must be worse for the child being away from his parents.
Good luck and best wishes Flowers

dreichwinter · 11/11/2019 23:36

Withdrawing consent for the s20 is perfectly legal obviously but it would distract attention from trying to find out how the dc was injured.
A small child has received a serious injury while in the care of adults who are there to protect them.
Establishing how that happened should be the priority and is also the quickest way to have the dc returned to their parents.
I don't see any advantages to going down the ico route if it can be avoided.
I would also take heart from that decision, it means that no assumptions of guilt are being made at this time and that social care trust you and your family to keep to a voluntary agreement.

sarahstanley · 11/11/2019 23:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jesse1992 · 11/11/2019 23:41

I'd be looking at the nursary in all honesty , a bump appears pretty much within an hour ... and the call from the nursary about the calpol is suspect ? The nursary must have cctv ? Can that be checked ? Accident forms even for calpol administration ..... , he could of fell backwards trying to sit up having snack in the baby room or gone to stand up and balance & banged his head , I would be looking to sue them

Original poster
napol · 11/11/2019 23:42

I believe the Nursery remains open which does seem strange that we cannot care for our son as we are under investigation but they are allowed to continue to care for 80 odd other children

OP posts:
Staffy1 · 11/11/2019 23:44

I hope this is resolved soon OP and that your poor DS and yourselves get through it ok. I feel strongly that nurseries and preschools should be made to have cctv covering all angles after a bad experience we had with one.

Contraceptionismyfriend · 11/11/2019 23:45

Do they have to make the parents of the other children aware that they are being investigated by SS?

NormaLouiseBates · 11/11/2019 23:51

This is absolutely heartbreaking. I feel sick for you OP. I have no advice to offer but I really hope it gets sorted soon. Stay strong for each other.

EleanorReally · 11/11/2019 23:52

Relieved to learn you still see your ds daily

AuchAyeTheNo · 11/11/2019 23:53

Bumps generally appear very quickly for something like this. I’d be pushing for investigation into the nursery events.

I know it’s scary but please try and stay calm. SS have a job to do and if you help and cooperate it looks so much better for you. However don’t be a pushover. I hope he’s home with you very quickly Flowers

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