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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

6yr old child given medication without parental consent

400 replies

Skippy21 · 20/02/2020 08:28

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?

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 20/02/2020 10:03

And a single ibuprofen tablet is exactly the right dose for this age/size.
The question is, did the OP give permission for any first aid to be administered at all?

You don’t need to give permission for first aid. Ibuprofen is not first aid for a sprained ankle. The op could have been contacted or chosen to give that herself when she arrived. It is totally inappropriate for a child to be given it without parental consent.

LowcaAndroidow · 20/02/2020 10:03

@drspouse what difference does first aid permission make? Giving permission for first aid doesn’t mean a club can administer any medication they want.
Anyone who has had first aid training would know you can’t dole out medication to children without prescription or parental permission Confused

RLOU30 · 20/02/2020 10:05

Is it just a freaky coincidence that my adverts have changed to a social media advert with a text from “Jack” on a phone screen 😮🤔

Also, another one who wouldn’t have wanted him suspended. Corrected and made sure this wouldn’t happen again, yes- but not lost his job as he was stupidly trying to help.

oohyoudevilyou · 20/02/2020 10:05

It's absolutely not OK to administer OTC meds to any child without parental consent, but reporting it to police? Seriously?? You do know how overstretched the police are with actual crime do you, op?

I'd be contacting the organiser of the club and making them aware - which you have done - and leave it at that. You say the person responsible has (rightly IMO) been suspended, and your son is OK....it appears to be a stupid mistake rather than assault or abuse - why do you want more action?

LowcaAndroidow · 20/02/2020 10:05

If a child fell and broke a limb they’d be taken to hospital so not really relevant here.

Beau20 · 20/02/2020 10:05

So you are ok with an adult forcing your child to swallow tablets without permission then?
Giving it to them 3 times and insisting that they take it then looking in thier mouth to make sure they took it? (How scary for a 6yr old is that?)

This is just speculation/tales from a child. The whole thing is based on speculation. Yes he might have 'forcefully' made him take it or the whole thing might be entirely different. Please remember this entire story has come from a 6 and 11 year old. NOT an adult.

It's all a load of 'what ifs'! What if he had already had medication that morning? Well he hasn't and if he had the mother should have told the holiday club this. What if he was allergic? Again, he isn't and if she was they would have been told.

No-one is condoning the man giving the ibuprofen. He was wrong and he's probably lost his job. The OP is just majorly overeating when her son is fine and it seems neither her or the holiday club ensured that the correct procedure was in place for such situation.

Willow2017 · 20/02/2020 10:06

It if you're child has allergies this is notified to then club at the time of booking or with medical consent. This child isn't allergic, it wasn't therefore notified and the risk of allergic reaction was null?

There was no permisdion to give medication at all so judging by his actions it isnt certain that this adult would actually know if a child had an allergy or not. It all sounds like he just does his own thing because he is an 'adult' and kids do as they are told. I.e.forcing the child 3 times till he took it.
Did he know if the child had had ibuprofen before? If he hadnt then how did he know if he was allergic or not?

opticaldelusion · 20/02/2020 10:07

'Coerced'? Stop using language that has no place here. This is an inappropriate and distressing incident, granted. But a crime? No. This is a good opportunity for you to show your emotional resilience to your children, instead of getting hysterical.

Chocolatedaim · 20/02/2020 10:07

I’m a childminder, when my kids start with me parents sign a form, but whenever the situation arises and I feel calpol is needed, I always call/text/email first in case parents didn’t read form, they just signed it without looking properly, or in case something has changed in the time between signing and needing medicine.
Doesn’t take much to run it by the parents.
Safeguarding measures are for the child as much as the carer.

PurpleDaisies · 20/02/2020 10:08

No-one is condoning the man giving the ibuprofen.

No, worryingly there are people on the thread saying he did nothing wrong and this sort of complaint is ruining society.

Huggybear16 · 20/02/2020 10:08

The whole thing feels odd. My son had to be convinced to take it/ coerced. He spat it out twice and my daughter said the guy ‘checked his mouth to make sure he had taken it’

The plot thickens

Justaboy · 20/02/2020 10:09

the whole thing feels odd. My son had to be convinced to take it/ coerced.

Yay! now you can get this abusive barstard for assult !!!!

OlaEliza · 20/02/2020 10:09

What is wrong with you op?

Jesus Christ.

Notonthestairs · 20/02/2020 10:09

"Did you complete a form giving all the child's details, surgery number, medical information (including allergies) and permission to administer pain relief and seek medical attention at hospital if required?"

^^ this is the form I have had to complete. I always have to annotate it heavily (SEN, medical issues and allergies) and then discuss my changes with them to allow them to ask further questions. The wording on the form is crucial. One of mine had to be taken to hospital without me so I take them seriously.

JKScot4 · 20/02/2020 10:10

I was utterly beside myself with shock that this would happen
Really? God help you if anything serious actually happens!
What a ridiculous reaction, he was coerced/forced? Was there no other adult present? as per child/adult ratio? This all went unnoticed bar your kids??

PonderTweek · 20/02/2020 10:11

Not a police matter, but I would be quite angry. I would expect to fill in a form before my child starts in a new club, and like others have said, I would expect a staff member to ring me and ask if I was happy for them to give my child medication. I would also expect them to let me know that there was an incident, and if I was the employer I would expect to see a first aid report afterwards. This is basic stuff.

I don't think flagging this up is an overreaction as if untrained people go around giving meds to children they may well get the dosage wrong, or give the wrong meds. Kids may have underlying health conditions which may prevent them from taking certain meds so they would need to be aware of all this.

StatisticallyChallenged · 20/02/2020 10:12

Certainly in Scotland a worrying number of holiday clubs are not fully regulated - they skate through as "activity clubs" and don't bother registering at all. If their procedures are so lax that this was able to happen this may be the case here.

jomaIone · 20/02/2020 10:12

In the Children's Hospital near me, the nurses have 2 countersign paediatric doses of a lot of medication since it's so different to adult dosing. So surely someone not trained has no right to be administering anything on his own.

Willow2017 · 20/02/2020 10:12

This is just speculation/tales from a child. The whole thing is based on speculation. Yes he might have 'forcefully' made him take it or the whole thing might be entirely different. Please remember this entire story has come from a 6 and 11 year old. NOT an adult.
Why is the default on mn always that a child is always lying?
An 11yr old is quite capable of telling the truth.

An adult forced something on a child. Thats all kinds of wrong. What does that tell kids about bodily autonomy? If op had said to her 11yr old she was lying and ignored it the guy could do it to another child tomorrow and not tell his manager or the parent again. As it is he must have admitted it to be suspended. The manager said he had no idea it had happened so how many other times would he get away with it?

Misandei · 20/02/2020 10:13

People like the op are ruining the world for everyone. More and more people don’t want to run, clubs and trips because of the fear of back lash if they make a mistake. Have you ever made a mistake OP?

EXACTLY. Have you never made a mistake with your dc before? This type of mad hysteria is totally disproportionate to what has happened. It was misguided but the man did it with good intent, he meant well. Not satisfied with him being suspended, why do you now want police involved? you want him arrested??? get over your bloody self.

Huggybear16 · 20/02/2020 10:14

Wtf with all the competitive chilledoutness on mumsnet right now?

It's not really competitive "chilledoutness"

  • it's more "not phoning the police because he was given ibuprofen"
BreastedBoobilyToTheStairs · 20/02/2020 10:15

So the poor man has been suspended for trying to alleviate your kid's pain?? Words fail me.

Give over. The 'poor man' has been suspended for medicating a child with no appropriate consent, then failing to record it, presumably breaching the medical/safeguarding policy of his employer. It's entirely appropriate if the club to suspend him. He shouldn't have done it.

It was ok this time out of sheer luck. I'm all for improving systems to ensure that children can be given appropriate medication promptly by qualified individual, but given that a system wasn't in place, he was in the wrong.

If he didn't stop and wonder 'maybe this could cause a reaction, I best check his notes/with his parent' then he had no business giving meds to children because he clearly didn't understand the risks. If he thought checking with an 11 year old is in any way an appropriate substitute for parental consent, he has no business giving children meds. If he considered all of that and ignored it then he still had no business giving a child meds. He shouldn't be in a position of responsibility for other people's children until he appreciates that.

But going to the police would be ridiculous.

endofthelinefinally · 20/02/2020 10:16

Ibuprofen is quite a tricky drug. There are several issues around allergy and contraindications. The worry about this "poor man" is that he clearly doesn't know the risks and doesn't know that he doesn't know iyswim.

Suppose this man gave ibuprofen to a child who had a head injury? Containdicated. But he might not know that.

I used to teach and train all grades of HCPs. I had one HCA who really thought she knew everything and was always wanting to use her initiative and work independently. In the end we had to restrict what she was allowed to do and make sure she was always supervised because she was dangerous. She was one of those people who didn't know what she didn't know. Well meaning, but unsafe.

Apologies if this posts more than once. MN is being really glitchy and peculiar atm.

ILSSM · 20/02/2020 10:16

This reply has been deleted

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Huggybear16 · 20/02/2020 10:17

In the Children's Hospital near me, the nurses have 2 countersign paediatric doses of a lot of medication since it's so different to adult dosing. So surely someone not trained has no right to be administering anything on his own.

How is a hospital full of sick children any way comparable to a child being given ibuprofen after a fall? The training and guidelines will definitely be different.

I'm not saying the OP doesn't have a valid concern, but comparing training of the people in different jobs who work elsewhere isn't going to help.