SS forcing treatment on a child? (More WWYD)

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Context: I have SS involvement, own stupid fault due to having a breakdown when my marriage broke down (he was violent) and not coping. DD is on a CIN. DD is 3.

DD has SN but is generally stable, happy and contented. I do all her appointments, and she sees her dad EOW for court ordered contact.
DD has a condition that doesn’t affect any of her others, but is very visible. It doesn’t cause any problems day-to-day unlike her other conditions. She’s under a specialist for the condition and it is monitored by the specialist and also her paediatrician she sees for a more general condition. There is treatment for the condition but atm it’s not necessary as leaving it alone is working and while it’s visible the condition itself is stable when treatment could make it unstable and have a knock on effect to her other conditions. I do not want invasive treatment on DD when it’s unnecessary; the specialist understands my position and supports this as she feels that putting a child through unnecessary treatment is pointless. Her dad is happy to follow my lead, if I feel the treatment is best for DD he’ll support it, but equally is happy for it to be left if it’s stable.

Social Worker keeps mentioning the condition and insisting that she needs treatment. She has called the specialist and spoken to her about it, trying to get her to persuade me to take treatment. She also called the paediatrician who doesn’t support putting her through the treatment when the condition is stable and could affect the other conditions.

Social Worker is now talking about moving her onto a Child Protection plan as I keep ignoring her advice to get this treatment. She says if that happens another Social Worker will be involved and between them they can make decisions about DD, and if they feel she has to have the treatment they will overrule me and insist she has it. Treatment is an operation. DD has had operations in the past and ended up having an overnight stay in hospital due to the anaesthetic destabilising one of her other problems so her specialist for the condition it affected plus the specialist for the condition she had operated on needed to be nearby to monitor her. She was ill for a good 5 weeks after and missed so much Nursery as she goes 3 days a week and couldn’t return until the 3rd week after the operation (when they said she’d be ok after 48 hours) and even then was on a week of half days. She was on antibiotics for a long while after and is still having problems due to the operation but it was necessary so I put her through it.

Does anyone know if SS can force this treatment on us? I don’t work but her dad does, and he won’t be happy if his contact is messed up due to this (he gets annoyed with me if she misses contact due to illness so if it’s forced upon us I can see things getting difficult). I’m not saying she never has the treatment but while the condition is stable, I’d like to “watch and wait”.

Honestly it's very hard to say ,without knowing what issue / problem you are talking about.as that might make all the difference to the situation

I think if you have medical support, in writing, then you should ask for a change of social worker, tbh. Even if it went to a child protection plan, unless the child was made a ward of court, then treatment couldn't be forced, as far as I am aware, and that measure is usually only taken when the child's life is held to be severely compromised by the lack of treatment.

I honestly don't know, but I would get everyone who agrees with you to state their position in writing. Good luck xxx

With adults there would be a best interests assessment, I would imagine there would be a child equivalent? I would also think the views of medical professionals should override a social work opinion but you would need proper advice.

yes get it in writing from the paediatrician and DD's dad and then write to the social worker's boss explaining what the social worker said and what your position is with the evidence included.

Do you have the support of a Health Visitor?

With all the best will in the world, your last paragraph spoke volumes about your ex.

Sorry had a power cut just as I posted!

There job will be to complete a health needs assessment. Unsure on what basis the SW is requesting this?

Get a copy of report from relevant paediatrician and email social worker and their managers.

Do you have a Health Visitor ?

Condition is to with her eye there is a vision problem but that's corrected with glasses.

Do you have any community nurse/health visitor?
They can advocate on behalf of medical.opinion.
May be worth inviting them to the next cin so it's not your word against ss more medical opinion.

Can you ask for a planning meeting so you can get the health and sw professionals in a room together?

We have CIN meetings with Social Worker, Nursery and sometimes DDs Paediatrician. Paeds has it written that treatment for her eye is currently unnecessary

Does she have an EHCP?

SS can’t force medical treatment on a child who is not in their care. A child protection plan does not allow them to make medical decisions for a child. They would have to go to court to do this. You need the paediatrician / GP to communicate this to the SW. However the SW threatening you in this way isn’t on. I would complain.

The surgeon/specialist is quite capable of refusing to perform a procedure s/he doesn't feel is medically necessary - I've seen it done (and from where the family are pressing for it, but the social worker is unhappy about whether it's in the patient's best interests). And we've all seen big cases where it's the family wanting one thing and the doctors wanting another.

It's very likely that, even if it got as far as a judge, they would decide to follow the medical advice, rather than the opinion of somebody not medically trained.

Keep your position firmly based upon the doctor's opinion (and not your ex's) and you're on stronger ground.

Social worker cannot force you to get medical treatment only a court order can do this. Complain about them putting you under pressure

Isn't it better to have eye conditions corrected early?

If you don’t have it already, I would get written support from your DD’s specialist specifically about this issue, and ask them to point out in writing that they’ve already spoken to the SW about all of this.

And then I would raise official concerns about a social worker who thinks they know more than a bloody medical specialist, and who is resorting to threats. FFS.

They have way too much power when it comes to medical treatment however if both consultants are on your side then they can’t force it. They can’t force a doctor to operate against their will. Is there a charity for your child’s condition? They should be able to help advocat

If it's a squint correction this is awful, we have been assured it's entirely cosmetic and have declined it (as did my parents with me). Hopefully expert letters and a calm but firm request to change social worker will sort it. Good luck.

Write out very clearly all your concerns OP, as you did in your post, and send it to your SW’s line manager, copied to your paediatrician. The SW has no authority to force you to make medical decisions

You mention that your DD’s condition is currently stable. Is it very likely that she will need to have the OP in the future?
Just thinking ahead, it would it be worse if your DD needs corrective surgery when she’s at school and misses out on learning.

I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you. You sound like a great mum.

It is squint surgery as mentioned in this thread.

Just as PP have said a SW's cannot force medical treatment through a CP plan as this does not give them PR. They could however say you are neglecting your child but this would need to be a majority decision by the professionals involved and agreed that it meets the threshold of significant harm. Sadly GPs and consultant paediatrcians are hard to get a CP meetings. Meaning their voice could be lost. The HV is likely to represent health so having them on board is key. You've put thinhs quite articulately on here so I'd advise to write to the SW's manager and maybe copy in their manager's manager and include a copy of the paediatrician's opinion. X