6yr old child given medication without parental consent

[Skippy21]

After collecting my two children 11yrs and 6yrs old from a half term holiday workshop they both were happy and excited about their outdoor fun that day despite small injuries- 6yr old had a tumble and hurt his ankle. No real issues there until my 11yr old daughter said the man looking after them gave Jack (6 yr old) ‘a tablet’ 😮😮, as he had hurt his ankle and was in considerable pain crying a lot. I was utterly beside myself with shock that this would happen- Jack was given an Ibuprofen tablet -adult!! Medication- no phone call to me and no authority to administer any form of medication. Jack is ok, and dosage was within his weight range- just. The man has been suspended from his position ( guy in charge had no idea this incident had occurred!!).
Should this be reported to police?

Oh my god OP that is shocking! No concrete advice but I am 😮😮😮 on your behalf.

The ibuprofen packets I have say they are not to be given to children under 12 so it was very inappropriate that it was given to a 6 year old.

Some ibuprofen is mixed with other medicines and they are not suitable for under 12s for that reason.

I work in education and things are moving very much in the direction of staff never administering medicine (unless life saving - and that requires much paperwork and staff training). Parents must come in to administer calpol etc. At my son’s nursery they wouldn’t administer anything - hence me literally trying to urge my train from London to go faster than it physically could, as I knew he had experienced febrile convulsions and used to shoot up to 40plus degrees at the drop of a hat. Eventually DH called and begged them to give him something, and they caved and admitted they had some children’s ibuprofen which they then gave him!
In this day and age I would be absolutely shocked to hear of any adult giving a child any kind of medicine without a call home first and LOTS of paperwork afterwards.

I would be incensed too, complete safeguarding issue. I would be seriously concerned about training of staff and safeguarding procedures at the club as it sounds chaotic with the lack of medical disclosure/consent form as well. I would find another holiday club but there is no role for Police

I have 2 different brands of just ibuprofen (not mixed with anything else) and they both say not to give to children under 12.

The paracetamol however says that ½ to 1 tablet can be taken by children age 6-12

That terrible, terrible man trying to stop a child from being swollen and in pain.

I understand why they let him go as it's against their policy but you want to call the police?! Grow up and look after your own children if you're going to be this ridiculous.

Anyway you can’t just lob out something you think is alright and hope for the best! Where do we draw the line? The dinner lady that shares her tramadol? A bit of after school
Codeine? Date rape drugs accidentally administered to teenage girls by a friendly volunteer at after school club?
There are reasons for the regulations around administration of medications in these settings.
We live in a time where not adhering to safeguarding measures can’t just be excused.
Everyone involved in these cases has to be held accountable and thoroughly investigated. It’s a chain of failures, from training down to the eventual mistake.

No need for the Police but although he probably acted with good intentions, he was completely out of order & clearly didn't follow protocol or use his common sense! At the very least, he should have told you all about it when you collected your son - what if you'd unknowingly given him more medication at home within the recommended time period? What if he had an ibuprofen allergy? He should have completed the relevant paperwork & there should have been 2 adults present during any administering of medication. It sure as hell shouldn't have been down to your daughter to let you know!! Appalling lack of policy/procedure.

@poseysbobblehat

Why say Ofsted won't care???

Ofsted will expect it to be reported by the club, if it isn't then they're not correctly safeguarding the children. If an incident like that occurs the club/school or whatever are responsible for reporting it to Ofsted and LADO.

If they are later found by Ofsted to have not reported it then will have a massive issue in a future Ofsted inspection.

You can't just "act with good intentions" when you work with other people's children.
You just can't and anyone who thinks that you can shouldn't be working with kids.

Even when your instinct tells you one thing you often have to do something different because you always have to deal with the what ifs

Btw the OP was asking if Mumsnet thought it should be reported to the police? She wasn't saying "OMG I'm calling the police!" - some people are really getting het up about this!

It was wrong and it sounds as though the person who did it might not have had safeguarding training. It sounds as though the organisation is dealing with it. I would ask them what training their staff have had or will have in future and also ask to see their policies for accidents etc. But I don't think it is. A police matter.

YANBU to be concerned, however involving the police would be ridiculous. Of course he shouldn’t have given medication without consent but it was done with good intentions as your child was in pain. The club have taken swift and appropriate action. What more do you want to happen?

Ofsted absolutely will care about an incident like this.

It's a huge welfare issue. Even if you take away the consent forms, the fact it wasn't written up means another member of staff could have given the child another dose. The fact it wasn't passed onto the parents means they could have.

If the staff member administered his own ibuprofen to the child then it calls into question his suitability to work with children at all.

OFSTED (and the LA if they have policies about who they let venues too if it was held in a school or commnity facility) will absolutely want to see the investigation and know it can't happen again.

msmith501 but OP said she didn't fill in a medical form. Hee child could have been allergic to ibuprofen. In any case it's not appropriate to give a 6 year old a tablet meant for an adult.
I think he was wrong to do it. It's not a police matter though.

Do you know how your son injured his ankle? Why was the injury being concealed from you/from the other stuff running the holiday club? From a safeguarding perspective I'd be much more worried about that, than the medication. The risk being somehow your son was injured in some incident involving the man who administered the medication that he doesn't want to be discovered.

Six is usually old enough to know what you're allergic to. Your son can be taught he doesn't have to take medication offered by other people and that he should refuse it unless he knows what it is and why he's taking it.

He may have made a mistake but your child is fine and the 'culprit' is being punished with a suspension already. No need to ring the police ffs.

Sorry but you’re being unreasonable, he treated an injury appropriately. For you to say “if it had been one paracetamol it would have been an overdose” is the same as saying ‘if my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a bicycle!’ Its a nonsense.
You’re coming across as quite arrogant that somebody cared enough to offer your child an entirely suitable pain killer and anti inflammatory.
I hope nw you’ve had this man suspended from his job that you don’t need any more out of hours childcare.

I hope nw you’ve had this man suspended from his job that you don’t need any more out of hours childcare.

While the police is an over-reaction the OP has not had the man suspended. A childcare professional who didn't write up, or inform the parents, of giving ibuprofen has ben suspended because of his own actions.

Even if the child has fully filled in medical forms he's still fucked up and it merits investigation because of what could have happened. The majority of safeguarding policies are because of what could happen

PeterPanGoesWrong he didnt treat appropriately - there was no consent (OP said early on) no knowledge as to allergies and tablets are not suitable for the under 7s.

I suspect the holiday club doesnt have the appropriate guidelines in place so it is the people running it who are at fault and not him but in no circumstances should a child be given medication without the appropriate consent

You’re coming across as quite arrogant that somebody cared enough to offer your child an entirely suitable pain killer and anti inflammatory

It wasn't suitable if it's not suitable for children under 12 as OPs child is only 6.

Sorry but you’re being unreasonable, he treated an injury appropriately.

Last week my 18 year old dd injured herself whilst dancing at college.

Despite the fact that she is 18, despite the fact she has her own supply of pain killers at no point did the college first aider decide to administer pain relief. Instead the teacher, quite rightly, assessed dd, saw that she was in pain and sent her to hospital to be assessed.

THAT was the appropriate treatment.

In fact painkillers wer ecompletely unsuitable as she had to be sedated at hospital for a procedure to be carried out and wrongly administered painkillers can simply mask a problem that needs to be looked at.

*Despite the fact that she is 18, despite the fact she has her own supply of pain killers at no point did the college first aider decide to administer pain relief. Instead the teacher, quite rightly, assessed dd, saw that she was in pain and sent her to hospital to be assessed.

THAT was the appropriate treatment.*

Only if she needed an a&e visit because if not it was a massive waste of resource and totally inappropriate! I'd like to think an 18 year old is able to make a sensible decision herself!

You have a agreement of loci parentis.
This doesnt give you the right to force a child to take an adult sized tablet never mind 3 times and then insist on checking their mouth to ensure they did as they were told!
Any childcare setting should have policies and procedures in place for safeguarding. If its a holiday club then there will be rules they have to stick by to run it set down by the local council.