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Original poster

If you get a call from school to say child needs A&E

89 replies

Explaintome · 24/09/2022 15:49

Would you still tale them even if you disagree?

Ds hurt his wrist in PE. I expect it hurt at the time and will be sore for a few days but he seems to have full mobility and there very little swelling.

If it was my wrist I'd wait and see. School insisted I should tale him to A&E. Personally I didn't really feel there was any reason for him not to be in school.

Anyway, I did take him because I was worried that going against their orders advice would look like neglect and as expected , there's nothing wrong and I've been made to feel a time waster.

Would you have had more confidence in your own judgement or gone along with the school, just in case?

OP posts:
Shitfather · 24/09/2022 15:53

I’d have collected my child and made my own judgement. I absolutely would not have taken DC to A&E based on what you described.

TwittleBee · 24/09/2022 15:54

Well, after having social called on me from school reporting me not taking my DS to A&E because I didn't think he needed to (and didnt), I think you did right to go as school suggested

PuppyMonkey · 24/09/2022 15:55

He might have had a fracture though. You sometimes can’t tell. When I broke my wrist I had mobility at first and thought it was ok, but it started hurting more a bit later and when I went to A&E they x-rayed and it was broken.

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TeenDivided · 24/09/2022 15:58

In those circumstances I'd maybe take to Pharmacist or GP.

PuttingDownRoots · 24/09/2022 15:58

I think schools are in a tricky position here... you can't always tell how bad an injury is just by looking at it. They would get worse complaints if they didn't alert the parents or kept a child with a broken limb in lessons.

minipie · 24/09/2022 15:59

Depends. If they saw the accident and it was clearly nasty - wrist went at an odd angle or bashed something very hard etc - then they may have a good reason for suggesting A&E. They may have more facts than you iyswim.

But if they’re just saying A&E out of caution/arse covering then I agree use your own judgment.

Rodion · 24/09/2022 16:01

The school have to be more cautious, they can't exactly recommend "ahh, it'll likely be fine I wouldn't bother taking him".

Aeio · 24/09/2022 16:02

I would do what school told me tbh. Nursery once told me to make a gp appt for my little girl for a rash. I did, because if i hadn't and turns out i should have then i would have felt awful and would have risked her being more poorly.

FlounderingFruitcake · 24/09/2022 16:05

Not that there’s many of them around these days but if it was a school nurse, so a medical professional then I’d follow their advice. If it was the class teacher or other staff member then I’d use my own judgement.

jgw1 · 24/09/2022 16:06

Explaintome · 24/09/2022 15:49

Would you still tale them even if you disagree?

Ds hurt his wrist in PE. I expect it hurt at the time and will be sore for a few days but he seems to have full mobility and there very little swelling.

If it was my wrist I'd wait and see. School insisted I should tale him to A&E. Personally I didn't really feel there was any reason for him not to be in school.

Anyway, I did take him because I was worried that going against their orders advice would look like neglect and as expected , there's nothing wrong and I've been made to feel a time waster.

Would you have had more confidence in your own judgement or gone along with the school, just in case?

Since I don't have x-ray eyes, if a child has fallen and landed on their hand with significant force and it is sore, then i would want them in A+E.

lisaJN1986 · 24/09/2022 16:08

Schools need to be taken down a peg or two. The so called 'Designated Safeguarding Lead' at our school is a silly party girl barely out of her teens who loves to police the children, especially the ones from lower income households, for signs of 'abuse or neglect' aka small scratches from cats and yesterdays ink still on hands.
Please do not feel threatened by them or that you are doing something dreadful by not taking their nonsensical advise, and do remember above all else, they are covering their own backs by dishing out such rubbish advise. You know your child best. They are not medically trained and have no business telling you to go to A&E though. They ought to be made to foot the bill personally, that will stop them.

Tigerstripes1 · 24/09/2022 16:10

I've been an ED nurse so I'd laugh at them if they tried to tell me what to take my own children for. Just yesterday they rang me as my son cut his head, I went in and glued it back together there and then and left him to finish the day. He was fine in himself and the school trusted my judgement.

InTheNavy · 24/09/2022 16:14

Who made you feel like a time waster?

hopsalong · 24/09/2022 16:14

I've had four phone calls in the last year saying that DS1 had had an accident and needed to go to A&E.

Not only did he not need to go to A&E, none of the injuries were remotely serious or requiring any medical aid at all. One occasion (when another child shut his fingers in the door) was very painful but it was blatantly obvious that the fingers weren't broken, there was some blood but he had full mobility etc. A week later he had forgotten about it until recently, when one of the nails on that hand grew out with a white ridge.

As a working parent, I'm fed up with it. In only one case (the fingers) did he even need to come home from school. I think that if the school had a proper nurse they would make more sensible calls -- as it is they're over-cautious.

In reality, if a child did need urgently to go to A&E I have to assume the school should be calling an ambulance. Even with a broken arm, I would hope that a teacher or dinner lady might be able to take the child straight there or call our local relative / point of contact rather than waiting the hour or so for me to get out of work, on the tube etc.

If it happens much more I am worried that I will stop even taking the calls at work. Of course I absolutely want to be there asap if he has a serious accident. But I can't afford to miss this much work for minor knocks and bumps. In one case he had only grazed his elbow and knee.

alexdgr8 · 24/09/2022 16:15

what cost ? do you mean transport, probably not worth calculating.
better to follow advice from people who have safeguarding training and responsibility, even if only for your own protection.
i'd always prefer to err on the side of caution, esp where another person is concerned.

BattenburgDonkey · 24/09/2022 16:17

Id have phoned the GP and explained what you could see and what school advised and see what they said.

Threeboysandadog · 24/09/2022 16:19

I had a broken arm, aged 7, for almost a fortnight because my mum thought it would be fine. Even when I broke my elbow as an adult I didn’t go to A&E immediately thinking it was just bruised. If it happened at home I would make my own judgment but if the school recommended A&E I would go to cover myself even if I thought it was a waste of time.

womaninatightspot · 24/09/2022 16:19

We have a really good local gp and when this happens he gives kids the once over and recommends a and e / home for rest / back to school.

I’ve taken a child to A and E on his advice broken bone but sent back to school on another occasion as that knock to the head is not concussion.

Iknowforsure1 · 24/09/2022 16:19

Well, schools must stay on the safety side, don’t they. Imagine the outcry if they don’t. Maybe overly cautious new first aider. It must be difficult to take time off work and all the hustle involved, etc. However unless it happens very frequently, I don’t think you can blame the school.

Kite22 · 24/09/2022 16:20

When ds fractured his wrist, dh (a first aider) decided it didn't need A&E. I was more concerned and took him to the GP. GP agreed she didn't think it was a break but made us an appt to go straight to imaging, without having to wait in A&E.

The person who did the x-ray said it wasn't clear, so we had to go back another day to see the consultant, and in the end they decided it was a fracture and he needed to be in plaster for a few weeks.
It is difficult to tell without that x-ray.

lannistunut · 24/09/2022 16:20

These days I would definitely get medical input to have something on the record, but I may not have gone to A&E.

It does rather feel that you arouse suspicions very easily now, even if you are right!

TigerRag · 24/09/2022 16:21

I would have gone to (if you have one) a walk in centre / minor injuries. They can send you to A&E if they need to.

Motherofalittledragon · 24/09/2022 16:22

5 years ago my son ran in to a bench at lunchtime when I went to pick him up at the end of school he came out sobbing and could hardly walk, class teacher said he'd had a bump on his leg and was given an ice pack, I took him to A&E and he'd a fractured tibia. All in all I'd rather have a cautious school than the kind my son went to.

Sahara123 · 24/09/2022 16:22

I am a secondary school first aider - not a nurse - and whilst I might recommend a particular course of action I can’t tell you what to do ! It’s a bit of a thankless task as some people think I’m a doctor and others just dismiss everything I say but at the end of the day it’s your child and up to you what you do . One pupil springs to mind who hurt her wrist , her parents didn’t do anything despite it remaining swollen and painful for some time , but this became a safe guarding issue which I passed on and was part of a whole range of issues .
I hope I’m a good first aider , caring and compassionate, and I wouldn’t judge you for making your own decisions about your own child , whatever I might recommend at the end of the day it’s your child and your decision. I’m just here to help .

Iknowforsure1 · 24/09/2022 16:24

@hopsalong
I think all the working parents are very sympathetic about you having to take time off, you know, to ensure your child is fine. But I have had a very serious fracture when I was young I didn’t realise for a week. Yes, it happens. Some children are more accident prone, it’s not anyone’s fault. Serious injuries are not always blatantly obvious.