School safeguarding issue

[Obladeeobladaa]

Posting for a friend...

Child A with no medical needs was given prescription meds (penicillin) given to school for Child B in a totally different class. Child A alerted Parent A to situation, school had no idea of the error.

School keen to sweep under carpet. Where to go from here?

They usually have 2 people check the medicine so that there are far fewer chances of mistakes. There is a book that gets signed, both staff members sign it to say they are the ones taking responsibility for the medicine given.

Is there a published medicines policy for the school? Usually on their website. I would be furious. I am highly allergic to penicillin, luckily my reaction happened as an adult so I knew something was wrong with my breathing and was able to get medical help urgently.

Parent A has been told cannot have access to medicine policy due to safe guarding.... the irony

@Obladeeobladaa

Parent A has been told cannot have access to medicine policy due to safe guarding.... the irony

Surely this is false. Policies should be provided on request. Since parent A is getting nowhere, they need to take it to the governors. Is parent B aware that their child has missed a dose?

@FlyingBattie sadly not, that has been clearly stated. No idea on comms with Child B/ parent b, also due to safe guarding...

The policies should be publicly accessible, have you checked there website? DC's school has them all in one section.

Good lord! This would be a huge deal at our school. Administering of medication is strictly controlled and staff have to complete training regularly!

Administration of drugs to the wrong child is a massive safeguarding issue. You friend needs to get a copy of the school's conplaint/grievance policy and then follow the requirements for making a complaint. Normally formal written letter to the chair of governors and cc to head teacher and the safeguarding officer at the lea.

This absolutely should not be swept under the carpet. My dd is allergic to penicillin and that allergy can and does kill.

The school cannot discuss the details of the child who should have got the meds that is a breach of gdpr. However they can give your friend a copy of the meds policy. Most school's have their policies on their websites,has your friend checked? If not the lea should also be able to provide copies

That is an awful mistake, my DD is allergic to Penicillin and stories like this are worrying, however she is now old enough to know that she can't it.

Not related, but as OP said children do go along with what adults/those in authority say and don't challenge it.

I picked up DD when she was in Yr 2 and had to wait whilst she handed out sweets, I couldn't understand why she was until the teacher said it was for her birthday (it was months before her birthday). Turned out the mother of a child with the same first name, but in a different year, had dropped off sweets for her DD's birthday. DD couldn't understand why they were singing happy birthday to her, but was too embarrassed to say anything. Meanwhile the actual birthday had to forgo her peers wishing her a happy birthday or handing out sweets.

@GreyhoundG1rl the school my children attend will not give children medicine either unless it's an inhaler, epipen or if the child has a healthcare plan agreed with the nurse.

No-one on this thread is going to agree with me

That's fine.

But I do safeguarding day-in-day-out.

This was a HUGE fuck up. And could've had incredibly serious consequences.
But it sounds like it didn't have for either child.

Because no child was ultimately harmed it therefore isn't a safeguarding issue.

It isn't.

I get soooooo many "potential" safeguarding issues every week. Some are gossip. Some are catastrophising. Some are imagined. A few are real.
A situation which is ,"because if x had happened instead of y" is NOT safeguarding.
Record it
Monitor it in case it happens again
Learn from it.

Don't report it to lado. There's no point

[quote Obladeeobladaa]**@CommanderBurnham* and @Birminghambloke*
Crossed posts. Both really helpful. Head has been atrocious and looked to close out same day with no investigation. Thanks for constructive feedback re what steps should be taken[/quote]
In my investigation I’d have a clear timeline of actions and records of all communication. The first step is always acknowledging what has happened with parents. Showing you’ve grasped the gravitas of the situation. Detailing clearly the process you’re entering and how you’ll be able to keep them updated/ what bits you might not be able to share (HR linked). Say who you will inform. Advise you need this time and their options if not happy after this. If school systems in place, then it could be personnel linked. As many of us have said, clearly advise the learning. A parent will be upset about their child however, like the school, would not wish for it to happen to another child.

@Obladeeobladaa

Parent A has been told cannot have access to medicine policy due to safe guarding.... the irony

Such policy can be on the school’s website. If not, it should be available on request. It comes under pupil safety. I put it under the safeguarding and health and safety categories. This Head needs to demonstrate taking seriously and not inflaming by poor communication. Certain things will be confidential, not “safeguarding”. However you can talk policy, procedure and general approach. “In this situation we would inform both parents” is procedural reference as opposed to “I’ve spoken to parent…”.

@Mumdiva99

There should be a form completed and name on the meds.

The school should have a policy (on their website normally) about giving medication.

A head teacher should be taking this error seriously and investigating what has gone on. At the least there should be a robust look at the policy to see if it is fit for purpose and also the staff training to ensure they follow policy.

I would be unhappy if this happened in the school where I govern and at the next opportunity/governor meeting we were not made aware of this. - that might take up to a term to come around but I would expect the HT to present the facts and what they have done to ensure it never happens again. (That should all happen whether a parent complains or not).

You would not have this shared at a governors’ meeting in full detail. This is because there needs to be a ‘clean’ panel in case of complaint escalation or if there needs to be a disciplinary panel. It is likely that at the time of the incident the Head would inform the Chair or relevant named Governor that an incident has occurred and give a summary without full detail. A brief reference may occur at the governors’ meeting. The Head would inform the relevant Trust or LA people as part of termly reporting, if not aware at the time due to being involved. It’s not a case of being being happy about this or not-we’d assume all would not be happy this has happened. The key things are: Is child A ok, receiving meds? Is child B ok, missing meds? How did it happen? Most importantly, how do we ensure it does not ever happen again? Communication to parents at each step. Under the how did it happen, is it procedural or is it human error within procedure? If human error, then it’s exploring if it’s training or if it’s neglectful. If policy /procedure has been breached it’s then under HR policy.

@RogueMnerHidesUnderABigHat

No-one on this thread is going to agree with me

That's fine.

But I do safeguarding day-in-day-out.

This was a HUGE fuck up. And could've had incredibly serious consequences.
But it sounds like it didn't have for either child.

Because no child was ultimately harmed it therefore isn't a safeguarding issue.

It isn't.

I get soooooo many "potential" safeguarding issues every week. Some are gossip. Some are catastrophising. Some are imagined. A few are real.
A situation which is ,"because if x had happened instead of y" is NOT safeguarding.
Record it
Monitor it in case it happens again
Learn from it.

Don't report it to lado. There's no point

I don’t know enough about safeguarding to know whether this is correct (presume it is, you’re the expert!) but the error itself needs to be taken very seriously under another framework, if safeguarding only deals with incidents with adverse consequences.

This is a serious medicines error which could have been catastrophic for child A, and is also a problem for Child B who has not received the medicine they needed. There needs to be a proper investigation that looks at the root causes to ensure that systems can be put into place to prevent a recurrence. The lack of adverse effect in this incident in no way diminishes the seriousness of the error.

Penicillin reactions can actually occur days - weeks after administering obviously the most serious reaction would be likely to happen within the hour of administration. I am allergic to penicillin was fine as a young child no issues but in my mid teens I developed an allergic reaction weeks after taking it. I hope your friend has sought medical advice and I would absolutely push the school and complain. Medication errors are serious, this one is pretty huge considering neither child is in the same class nor do they share a name so how on earth did this happen. Also it is not the other parents fault it is the person who administered the medication.

The school should be reporting this themselves to ofsted
It’s a very serious matter
I work in a nursery and any medication given has to be witnessed by somebody else who has to counter sign to say they have checked all the details so the wrong dose or medication can’t be given
This absolutely needs reporting and a letter of complaint should be sent to the governors, the LEA and ofsted by the parent of that child

This needs highlighting as child A could have had an allergy to penicillin that might have resulted in harm. Protocols and safety checks need to be changed.

[quote Obladeeobladaa]@TheChosenTwo yes but again, child A is under 5... didn’t question teachers, just told parents as part of end of day reflection

Child A and B not related... not even known to each other[/quote]
Then how did Parent A contact the other parent then?

My grandson is allergic to penicillin. It isn't that unusual. At the very least, the school should be asked to state clearly what steps they are taking to ensure that this doesn't happen again. This is a serious mistake and needs to be addressed.

@RogueMnerHidesUnderABigHat

I think it's a huge fuck up, and could've been incredibly serious. But it seems no major harm was done.

So

I don't think it's safeguarding. And I don't think its reportable to lado

I think its a very unfortunate cock up, huge relief no ill effects. Tighten up procedures.

I'm a deputy dsl.

It absolutely is reportable just as much as a nurse giving the medication to the wrong patient.

@Shakirasma

they don't even give the kids plasters in case of allergies

Again, just not true. School apply plasters when necessary

I used to have an agreement with my kids' school that if they put a plaster on DD1 - they were responsible for getting the bloody thing off again cos she's such a flipping drama queen over them! TA would just stealth yank it off toward the end of the day!

(I'm allergic to plasters so I do get the logic behind it though)

It's incredibly concerning - but having seen the way some schools brush concerns under the carpet (I've been accused of libel and banned from talking to school staff for simply following stage 1 of my soon-to-be ex-kids' school complaint procedure) I can well believe it.

@RogueMnerHidesUnderABigHat

No-one on this thread is going to agree with me

That's fine.

But I do safeguarding day-in-day-out.

This was a HUGE fuck up. And could've had incredibly serious consequences.
But it sounds like it didn't have for either child.

Because no child was ultimately harmed it therefore isn't a safeguarding issue.

It isn't.

I get soooooo many "potential" safeguarding issues every week. Some are gossip. Some are catastrophising. Some are imagined. A few are real.
A situation which is ,"because if x had happened instead of y" is NOT safeguarding.
Record it
Monitor it in case it happens again
Learn from it.

Don't report it to lado. There's no point

Are you the HeadTeacher?

It’s sounds like a massive error.
It’s up to the parents of child a and b to report though - there’s a risk of adding a layer of confusion ‘he said’ ‘she said’ . How do you know so much about it?
The facts are that the wrong child was given the medicine. I would suggest that parents a and b make a joint appointment to see the head on Monday to investigate what happened, if not satisfactory escalate to governors. No one was harmed (luckily)!so the aim should be to ensure it doesn’t happen against n rather than ‘punishing’ the school or staff. And of course school should be massively apologetic.
I don’t understand why a 4 or 5 year old would take someone else’s medicine though!? Mine wouldn’t!

RogueMnerHidesUnderABigHat I completely disagree. I have also been a deputy dsl.
The incident did occur, the wrong meds were given. Luckily no one was harmed.
However, actual harm is not the criteria.

That would be the equivalent of a parent attempting to punch a child, but the child ducking out of the way. In that scenario there would be no harm done to the child, but it would definitely be a safeguarding issue.

This is the similar, it was only by luck that the child went unharmed, it certainly does not mean that its not an issue.

I think @RogueMnerHidesUnderABigHat has a point, albeit a slightly pedantic one, about it not being a safeguarding issue. It's a big, massive fuck-up, certainly, but it would come under a health and safety umbrella rather than a safeguarding one. That doesn't make this incident any less serious. The school haven't really helped with this confusion if someone is really claiming that access to their administration of medicines policy is a safeguarding no-no. That's just bloody silly.