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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think local authority should share the report about DDs accident with us??

50 replies

Rainatnight · 24/10/2019 17:59

DD has an accident at pre-school last month. Her middle finger got crushed in a gate during a fire drill. Needed an operation, lots of blood, all very traumatic.

The school brought the local authority in for an investigation which we found very reassuring. But today we found out (over a month after asking) that the local authority has no plans to share the investigation report with us, saying that we’re a ‘third party’ and that all necessary steps have been taken (they put a finger guard on the gate).

I’m pretty furious about this. I get that they put the finger guard on (I’ve seen it) but I want to know whether there were other factors that gave rise to the accident.

And I think that in the interests of transparency, they should be as open as possible.

AIBU?

And if you know anything about this kind of situation, is there any policy or regulation I can point to which says they should share it?

Thanks.

OP posts:
Original poster
Rainatnight · 24/10/2019 22:16

I think subject access request is a good idea.

To PPs asking why I want to know, it’s for the reasons suggested by other PPs. I want to know if there was insufficient supervision during the fire drill, and if that tells us anything about the safety culture in the school.

We’ve not sent DD back there so getting the full picture is important in our decision about whether she should go back. She’d only been there five days when it happened.

I’m working in a field that’s vaguely connected to safety at the moment, and accidents are rarely ‘just’ the gate (or whatever).

It’s funny, I was initially really offended by the post suggesting I move on but it’s actually given me food for thought. Should I move on? I’m having real difficulty with that.

OP posts:
AnneElliott · 24/10/2019 22:19

Definitely make an FOI request and a formal complaint. I would expect to see the report as well if was my DC.

Andysbestadventure · 24/10/2019 22:21

Threaten to sue them. I would also then actually follow it through to be fair.

Tautologi · 24/10/2019 22:22

I think it sounds sensible to want to know the full picture. A well supervised fire drill with a child being near an unpredictable danger in a sensible group is very different to one adult moving a number of children who have had no preparation to an unfamiliar area.

I once had a smaller injury on a school site and I invited the parents in to tour he area whilst I talked them through it to demonstrate what a fluke event it was but how we’d changed a few things to prevent it happening again/ reassure the 4 yr old involved.

Original poster
Rainatnight · 24/10/2019 22:23

We honestly haven’t been that interested in suing, but this could change my mind.

OP posts:
Original poster
Rainatnight · 24/10/2019 22:28

Tautologi the head showed us the site of the accident and gave us an explanation but I’m still concerned that (a) the gate was clearly dangerous but no one had spotted that before - why not? And (b) the head was adamant that there had been no staff fault but the supervision sounds inadequate to me.

OP posts:
Merrymumoftwo · 24/10/2019 22:35

This would be a RIDDOR report www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/
I would start by confirming it has been reported and my understanding is a the injured parties representative you can see the report. Not a legal expert but work in a field where RIDDOR reports are made a lot

Merrymumoftwo · 24/10/2019 22:36

Sorry should say has been reported under RIDDOR as it should have been

Cleverplayonwords · 24/10/2019 22:37

I'm not sure you'd get anywhere with suing them on behalf of your daughter. You'd have to show loss / permanent damage caused by the accident.

JadeDragon23 · 24/10/2019 22:37

Christ op. It was an accident. They’ve investigated and taken measures to stop it happening again.

No one noticed the gate and the possibility of trapped fingers because they just didn’t...people are fallible. Including you presumably, who I’m assuming also didn’t notice the potential dangers in the gate in the days before it happened.

Let it go.

WhatTiggersDoBest · 24/10/2019 22:39

YANBU. I remember your original thread and I'm glad you're pursuing it to find out what could have been done to avoid it etc. How is DD recovering? Did you change her preschool in the end? AFAIK you can do a Freedom of Information request and I believe there should be a Local Authority Ombudsman if you need to escalate it.

WhatTiggersDoBest · 24/10/2019 22:41

Sorry, just read all the updates on Page 2. I should have RTFT. Grin

Lookingsparkly · 24/10/2019 22:41

Have you tried asking for the exact information you want rather than the actual report? If may be that your child is not named in the report so you have no right to it under a subject access request but perhaps the pre-school would answer your questions?

WhatTiggersDoBest · 24/10/2019 22:50

Also I suspect PPs telling you to move on don't understand how bad this injury was. I would pursue this until you run out of avenues, unless you gut tells you otherwise. But I'm coming from this worried about what other safety they have skimped on and whether another child might also get hurt.

Original poster
Rainatnight · 24/10/2019 22:54

Yes, sorry not to have answered that before, it was reported under RIDDOR.

JadeDragon123 Have you ever had a child injured at school or by anyone else taking care of them? Of course people are fallible. But good practice is to learn the lessons of the accident so the same failings don’t happen again. I’m having slight difficulty getting past the experience of picking up
my three year old from a new nursery covered in blood and taking her to hospital where they had to piece her finger back together again.

Hello WhatTiggers, the finger is coming on miraculously, considering. The doctors did an amazing job. It’s definitely deformed, and she’ll probably need plastic surgery at some point, but the function should be fine. We just haven’t decided het about sending her back.

OP posts:
DenentedDad · 24/10/2019 22:57

DP/FOI practitioner as well (small world)!

Just remember that personal data will be rightly exempted under FOI legislation. So while you can ask for (for example), number of people injured in a similar way, you can't ask for their specific details.

As has already been posted, you have every right to make a subject access request on behalf of your child.

That said, I also respond to complaints. What do you want to achieve?

CAG12 · 25/10/2019 07:29

Im not sure about sueing. That sounds a bit much.

I understand why youd want to know though, I would. FOI is the way to go, you have to make the request in writing and the organisation has 21 days (I think) to respond to you

Beveren · 25/10/2019 07:52

I think subject access request is a good idea.

No, it would be a Freedom of Information Act request.

I'm not sure you'd get anywhere with suing them on behalf of your daughter. You'd have to show loss / permanent damage caused by the accident.

Not true. She would be entitled to damages for the pain and suffering caused by the accident. That said, the sums involved for that alone would be small and probably not worth the trouble and expense of suing. If there is a likelihood of long term effects - and I suspect there might be, e.g. in terms of future arthritis - it would be more worth suing.

itsgettingweird · 25/10/2019 07:57

First thing I thought was a SAR under DD name to LA which I see others have suggested.

I also had an issue with ds in secondary. Involved a knife. Investigation was a farce and I felt LA were siding with school and it was more about a cover up. Also his new school (he transferred) were obviously being told about transfer and I wondered what information they were getting.

A SAR shows all the information.

Use the ICo website and make sure you are specific.

Eg

All emails between nursery and LA that mention your DD name in full, reference her by first name or her initials.
All written letters sent by post that mention DD name by ....

Also all of the above that mention you and any spouse or partner in the same manner.

Say you expect all reports and if they need to be redacted to remove names of third parties then you accept that.

Make it clear you are aware of being entitled to any data held on you but not that mentions others so they can't come back with that excuse again.

cansu · 25/10/2019 07:58

My d's was injured at school. It was an accident. They investigated but new safety measures on place and we moved on. I didn't even think of legal action or compensation. In a fire drill everyone leaves the building so your dd class would have been with their teacher and TA. She could have been surrounded by acts and still caught her finger in a gate. I get that it's awful. My d's had a head injury and I was of course upset. But seeking to blame someone unless there is obvious and deliberate negligence and life altering injuries is in my view a mistake.

itsgettingweird · 25/10/2019 07:59

I also get the moving on thing.

It's hard when you don't know what happened. Having the information helps with closure.

cansu · 25/10/2019 07:59

Surrounded by teachers ..

Wildorchidz · 25/10/2019 08:02

But seeking to blame someone unless there is obvious and deliberate negligence and life altering injuries is in my view a mistake.

The Op is trying to determine if there was in fact obvious and deliberate negligence. So far she does not seem to have been given the information to make that determination.

cooliebrown · 25/10/2019 08:06

look at making a personal injury claim on behalf of your daughter...

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