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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to report this nursery to ofsted?

53 replies

persepolis123 · 05/10/2015 00:41

A few days ago my daughter was given medication at nursery which was intended for another child. Would it be unreasonable to report to ofsted and/or is this something the nursery will do themselves?

OP posts:
Marcipex · 05/10/2015 10:11

Do report.
This nearly happened at a place I worked, was stopped by another staff member in time.
The medicine was clearly labelled, but the babies were not! It turned out the staff member (not new to the nursery) didn't know which child was which.
But thought she did iyswim.

WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 05/10/2015 10:15

I would phone ofstead, and ask for advice, without giving names initially.
They will probably have a procedure for you to follow.

Also, it might be worth getting your dd checked by your gp. Most meds should wear off over a few hours, but the meds weren't intended for your dd.

Original poster
persepolis123 · 05/10/2015 10:21

No she's on no medication.

OP posts:
PerspicaciaTick · 05/10/2015 10:21

Do the parents of the child whose asthma medication was used know about the error? Did their child miss out entirely or did the nursery give them their medication once they realised the mistake?
I am genuinely shocked.

kali110 · 05/10/2015 10:39

What was the medication? Bentolin?

kali110 · 05/10/2015 10:39

*ventolin

cozietoesie · 05/10/2015 10:42

If they can be so seemingly laid back about the incident, I'd be interested to know what else they're being laid back about - when no-one official is around. I'd go to OFSTED - that's Care and Welfare inspection territory I would have thought.

Number3cometome · 05/10/2015 10:47

Wow I am shocked.

I think you need to report so that adequate measures are put in to place to 1) make sure it doesn't happen again 2) ensure there is a firm reporting process for parents should there be another incident.

It's piss poor that it happened in the first place, but to not tell you immediately or to seek medical help is abysmal.

lotrben17 · 05/10/2015 10:52

It's hard to understand how they accidentally gave a non-sick child someone else's asthma medication - if it were my DD i'd be tempted to move her asap. I know people make mistakes but this is a pretty horrendous mistake.

tiggytape · 05/10/2015 10:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SoupDragon · 05/10/2015 10:52

Firstly, I imagine that one single dose of something designed for children will not have harmed your DD given she is not on any medication.

Nevertheless, it is completely unacceptable that this could have happened.

I would start with a formal written complaint to the nursery manager (and higher up if it is part of a chain) and go from there.

Anastasie · 05/10/2015 11:02

Soupy I'm afraid it can be really dangerous. Some children have significant inolerance or allergies to certain medications.

Anastasie · 05/10/2015 11:03

intolerance

MinecraftWonder · 05/10/2015 11:07

kali - Ventolin is generally given when presented with symptoms (like a wheeze or actual attack) isn't it? Ds2 has a ventolin inhaler - he doesn't have asthma but gets wheeze with an URT infection.

Which makes me tend towards thinking it was the brown pump-type inhaler, designed for maintenance? Which are generally steroids and the like.

I'd be bloody furious op.

HappyIdiot · 05/10/2015 11:10

Agree with others, it's the lack of concern over what happened that's worrying. In contrast, last week DD was accidentally injured by one of the staff at her nursery. The staff member knocked something off a shelf and it hit her while she was having her nappy changed. It was a totally minor accident and she was absolutely fine, with the tiniest of tiny red marks on her head. They contacted me straight away, were massively apologetic and were talking about moving the shelf to ensure it didn't happen again. I would expect this x100 for what happened to your DD.

LemonBreeland · 05/10/2015 11:23

Definitely report. Purely for their seeming lack of concern about it, and lack of taking it seriously.

CrapBag · 05/10/2015 11:27

What?! How did that happen? Very confusing. Did they just get the wrong child? Was it a child with a similar name and they gave it to your DD by mistake? That's a big mistake to make and I would want to know exactly how it happened.

Jeffreythegiraffe · 05/10/2015 11:27

The fact that they don't seem that bothered would concern me a lot.

hazeyjane · 05/10/2015 11:42

Which makes me tend towards thinking it was the brown pump-type inhaler, designed for maintenance? Which are generally steroids and the like.

Clenil (the brown inhaler) is a preventer given morning and night, so unlikely to be administered at nursery.

persepolis, was it the blue inhaler? What did your daughter say about having the mask put over her face?! Did nursery get you to sign the medication administered form on the day?

I can't work out how they could have made such an enormous cock up

It is very unlikely for a child to have an adverse reaction to ventolin (apart from a slightly racing heart)

I would be expecting nursery to be bending over backwards to provide an explanation, and reporting if I felt they weren't taking this seriously.

BettinaMc · 05/10/2015 12:04

OOFT. I'd be tempted to report this. DS attended the nursery attached to local primary school and they have a strict policy that staff will not administer medication. Parents/Parent's representative have to come to the school to administer it if required. I always thought that this was a bit much but having read this I'm pretty glad!

NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 05/10/2015 12:06

Yanbu

This could potentially have been life threatening.

Yes, everyone makes mistakes, I'm sure the member of staff feels awful. But it's not about the individual mistake, it's about the processes in place that allowed it to happen, which clearly need to be reviewed.

KitKat1985 · 05/10/2015 12:49

YANBU. Yes mistakes do happen (and I say this as a nurse who has herself made a meds error in the past when doing meds for a ward full of patients) but their laid-back attitude about the whole thing is really worrying. If a meds error happens on the ward for example we have to inform duty doctor and get medical advice, inform patient / next-of-kin and fill in an incident report so our managers can review what (if any) further steps can be taken to reduce the risk of further meds errors. It doesn't sound like they did anything.

HSMMaCM · 05/10/2015 13:48

Asthma medication is serious. That's prescribed medication. It should not have happened under any circumstances.

MyNewBearTotoro · 05/10/2015 16:20

That's awful and should never have happened. They should have a policy in place to ensure it can't happen. I work in a school and when a child in our care needs to be given medication Another adult needs to witness it which includes checking the dose has been measured out correctly and checking the name on the medication against the child and both adults then sign a form to say the medication was given.

You definitely should report. This could have ended badly either for your daughter or for the child who presumably was not given their required medication on time.

TheAussieProject · 06/10/2015 04:13

You must report it and the nursery must create new procedures about medication (colored wristband, double person check or whatever).
DS2 is severely allergic to penicillin and would inflate like a balloon, causing his airways to just shut down. So even a drop for him can be deadly.
They made two mistakes here, giving a medication to the wrong child and not taking the right measure once they realized it.
Report it.