Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
PurpleFlower1983 · 20/02/2020 10:33

He was completely in the wrong but it seems like the company are dealing with it appropriately. The police would be an overreaction.

Willow2017 · 20/02/2020 10:34

Alot depends on whether the Op signed an accident/medication form and what was on that form.

Op has explicitly said she didnt.
And nowhere does it say on any form you can force a child to take medication.

Huggybear16 · 20/02/2020 10:34

Nanny0gg

I hate these threads.

The OP never comes back and engages with the many pertinent points. They just pop back with random 'extras'.

Waste of everyone's time

Indeed. In this case, many people could be at fault, including the OP. I think the OP was looking for support to call the police. She lost interest when it was suggested to her that she could be just as responsible for what has happened here.

StatisticallyChallenged · 20/02/2020 10:35

Agree NannyOgg.

yellowallpaper · 20/02/2020 10:36

You're quite right to be upset and annoyed as your child could have had an allergy and been badly affected. Luckily he is fine and the company has managed the situation. Nothing illegal happened so don't waste police time.

HeartyGreenSalad · 20/02/2020 10:36

The man may not have lost his job, he has been suspended while they investigate where their system went wrong
They are following the correct procedure

poseysbobblehat · 20/02/2020 10:36

Ofsted won't care, child was fine

MummytoCSJH · 20/02/2020 10:38

All the people saying 'well this could have killed my child due to a rare disorder' 'what if he was allergic' Grin presumably you would make anyone who you allow to look after your child aware of this rare disorder/allergy and what they must not do/have?

LowcaAndroidow · 20/02/2020 10:38

@poseysbobblehat if they’re Ofsted registered then Ofsted will care as it’s a breach of the regulations. Doesn’t matter that the child was fine.

BreastedBoobilyToTheStairs · 20/02/2020 10:41

I imagine that many of us, if we had a child with allergies, would ensure that the staff knew about it before leaving them in charge of the highly-allergic child.

He may have never had ibuprofen before so Op wouldn't necessarily have known whether he was allergic and I sure as hell wouldn't risk assuming it was fine unless I'd expressly been told that was the case.

She would have no reason to say 'don't give him X, Y or Z' if, as far as she was concerned, they weren't authorised to give any medication at all because the risk shouldn't arise.

The man didn't inform Op that he'd given it either, so if there was a delayed reaction whether due to an allergy, intolerance, or contraindication with something Op might have given him later, she would have had no idea of what he had taken or the dosage. An 11 year old should not have been put in the position of having to tell her mother about medical treatment for her sibling.

PurpleDaisies · 20/02/2020 10:42

presumably you would make anyone who you allow to look after your child aware of this rare disorder/allergy and what they must not do/have?

Asthma being exacerbated by ibuprofen isn’t rare. I wouldn’t expect random adults to be giving children ibuprofen.

poseysbobblehat · 20/02/2020 10:44

Ofsted won't care, I've worked for them. There isn't a crack team of inspectors waiting to swoop in after every complaint. Numerous complaints and breaches of safeguarding - yes, one incident that was dealt with appropriately- no.

WinterCat · 20/02/2020 10:46

An actual paracetamol overdose and more than the recommended dose are different.

OP, if you report this to the police then I hope they prosecute you for wasting their time.

Cornettoninja · 20/02/2020 10:49

You need to stop.

From your own description the holiday club is taking it very seriously, make sure you’re kept up to date with the outcome of his suspension but you need to calm down. Your winding yourself up into a hysteria.

Your ds is okay and that’s the main thing.

justcleanyourbloodyteeth · 20/02/2020 10:49

I'm a fairly laid back parent, but I don't understand why so many people on this thread don't see an issue with this and insist that the man did the right thing. He didn't.
Whenever I've used a childcare setting, be it a holiday club or whatever, I've been required to complete a medical form which includes consent to give medication such as calpol etc. My kids have no allergies etc, so it's fine, consent is always given. But I guess there are parents who don't give consent for varying reasons. That's the issue here. OP said consent had not been given.
I'm not sure what I think about the OP's embellishments about being forced to take it. But it doesn't matter. They failed at the first hurdle so there need to be consequences. Definitely not police involvement though!

OP my child was involved in an incident at a play centre a good few years ago now, that resulted in a change of their policy to ensure safeguarding. When it first happened, I had a calm reasonable conversation with the manager, then they kept me informed about what they were doing / changing to ensure the sane thing didn't happen again. I was really pleased with the communication and outcome. A similar approach here could be good?

Butterymuffin · 20/02/2020 10:49

This doesn't sound like any proper holiday club I've ever seen. The reason why OP's not answering this

Anyone else wondering why we haven't got a simple answer about what forms were filled out by the OP when she left her children in the care of this workshop

Is I suspect because it's some shonky outfit she is now embarrassed she sent her kid to.

BigChocFrenzy · 20/02/2020 10:50

Batshit to think of police
Not every wrong / stupid action is a police action

If he broke company rules - and had been trained in them - then he will probably be sacked,
because if the pill has caused serious harm then the company would have been liable for massive compensation
and could have gone out of business because of their ruined reputation

If he hasn't been trained on this, then the company are idiots, but hopefully have had a wakeup call on the need for training.

Notonthestairs · 20/02/2020 10:52

Thanks Willows17 but the Op hasn't answered the specific question of n accident form - I would be interested in whether a form was provided and if she signed without reading it or if she specifically told them that she would not sign the form and wanted different procedures followed for her children (wouldn't knock her for that).

In 12 years neither of my children have attended a holiday club without my need in to complete an accident form. I'm the opposite of relaxed about the administering of medication to my children for the reasons I have described below.

Honestly I think a lot of people sign forms without reading them or considering what possible scenarios they might cover. I was a solicitor for 15 years and had to plead with clients to review the whole of contracts/t&c's with me (not just payment terms Grin).

If the club is in breach of its own published procedures then of course she should meet with them to formalise her complaint and refer them to the appropriate body.

Mossyrock · 20/02/2020 10:53

OP could have accidentally overdosed her child if his foot was still hurting later on and she gave him Ibuprofen. That didn't happen, but easily might have done.

A complaint to the holiday scheme was necessary OP but I'd leave it there. Hopefully the man will be retrained and more closely supervised in future.

IndecentFeminist · 20/02/2020 10:53

I'm totally amazed that so many people think this is fine. Would you accept this from a teacher?

DontFundHate · 20/02/2020 10:54

Can't believe most of the comments here, ibuprofen can be incredibly dangerous for some children (and adults) I would be reporting this to the LA or other appropriate body

okiedokieme · 20/02/2020 10:55

I've run holiday schemes and taken kids away - parents fill out medication consent as part of the registration process. We take it very seriously, have the correct medications etc.

TheDarkPassenger · 20/02/2020 10:57

My children and myself are severely allergic to ibrupofen, I just knew you were gunna say it was that.
The problem we have is that you say ‘paracetamol’ and people hear ‘painkiller’ so I ask that I’m consulted before my children are given anything. If they were allergic I wouldn’t.

harrietthepie · 20/02/2020 10:58

I think in a reasonable world the man shouldn't be suspended, he's done exactly what one would want him to

^ this. Suspension should be if he'd given an inappropriate dose.

Have you checked the forms you signed? It's not unusual for them to include consent for medication.

TheDarkPassenger · 20/02/2020 10:58

Werent* obv 😣

Swipe left for the next trending thread