Son comes back from school trip with fracture

[debsadoos123]

Hi, first time poster, please be kind. I picked my 14 year old DS up from school at 4pm today after he'd been away for a week skiing. When I got to him he had a makeshift bandage on his wrist and the teacher explained that someone had fallen into him yesterday morning and that my DS complained of extreme pain in his wrist. The said teacher went on to explain that they didn't seek medical attention because if it was broken then my DS wouldn't be able to fly home. They had taken him to a chemist and purchased a bandage and applied it.
By the time we had got home (10 min drive) my son was crying in pain so we went straight to A&E... Long story short, he has fractured a bone in his wrist. He is now in plaster and we have to return in 10 days for a bone scan.
Would I be unreasonable to make a complaint to school about their lack of action and failing to provide a duty of care?

I’d be furious. They cannot make a decision to deny medical treatment because it would be inconvenient. Even just denying adequate pain relief is bad in itself. When my daughter (albeit much young) had a break they had to give her diamorphine to be able to examine her. A bit of paracetamol would be unlikely to cut it.

I disagree that this was for the OP to decide about treatment. The teacher was on the ground. They were in loco parentis. In this situation their first priority should have been to get medical treatment.

They have not done the right thing for your son in the moment. That's all you need to know really. I would go ballistic about this tbh and I'm as chill.

Why on earth would he not be allowed to fly?

And if there are good reasons for him not being allowed to fly - who were the school to overrule that decision unilaterally by not getting medical treatment for him?

They have failed in their duty of. Care. I worked in a school and would have been in serious trouble for doing this. On another note I lost a friend to sepsis. She fell on the stairs and broke her ankle on xmas day, she didn’t go to hospital until day after Boxing Day even though I offered to take her. We lost her to sepsis in January, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t have been allowed to fly, I see people on holiday all the time with casts on all the time. I think they just couldn’t be bothered or didn’t want to have to miss the flight.

In that situation, a hospital might have splinted it as a temporary measure and prescribed stronger pain killers, which would have been better than a bandage bought over the counter.

Yanbu, school acted irresponsibly.

Contact the school tomorrow and ask to speak to a member of the senior leadership team. Ask what the risk assessment for the trip, and possibly the relevant policy, say about how injuries on trips should be dealt with.
Of course you have grounds for complaint, but if you go in what outcome do you want? Going ballistic isn't going to do anything useful. Will you be satisfied if they sit down with you, acknowledge that the situation wasn't dealt with correctly, and apologise?

What? You can fly with your leg in a cast so long as you buy the appropriate seats to accommodate it. Why couldn’t you fly with your arm in a cast? . Sounds very negligent. We live in a ski resort and hear about lots of accidents (often help out with spare crutches etc) and almost no-one misses their return flight because of it.

YANBU
Make a formal complaint and escalate, so the school never do this to another child

Your DS was in "extreme pain" the teacher said, but they didn't seek medical attention in case he was not fit to fly ?

Dreadful decision by teacher
Irresponsible, stupid & cruel

The child's welfare should come before the convenience of adults

Complete nonsense about not being able to fly. My son did similar in France, seen right away by French clinic, treated, strapped & flew home. Definite failure on school’s part.

A teacher can decide to take a child to hospital without consulting the parent first, just informing them at the time

However, they should never decide NOT to take a child for fear of them being unfit to fly

Did your son tell the teacher how much it hurt or did he minimize it. My DD broke her arm on scout trip and although she did tell the leaders she didn't say how bad it was, two days later she gets in the car to go home and then the pain overwhelms her

Even if the child might not allowed to fly, their health & right not to be in extreme - unnecessary - pain should trump possible inconvenience to the teacher and OP

Oh this happened to me! Except I was in the UK and they left it for two days. I was 8/9
When I got home my mum was in a proper rage. I had a DM sad face news article and everything.

Full sympathy to your son, it's horrible being away and in pain

"Teacher here..." "ask if they would be reporting to Ofsted (might be a stretch)." Yes it would be a massive stretch as any teacher would surely know. There is no reason for the school to report this to Ofsted. There has been a failure in duty of care, first step is for the parent to contact the school and speak to a senior leader.

Yadnbu. A teacher does not have the right to determine how severe an injury is. I'd be absolutely on the phone to head teacher and as someone registered with ofsted myself, I'd be giving them a ring. The school have a duty to report this to Ofsted. It is a serious injury that happened within their care. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't report as they would have to explain why they didn't seek medical advice. What if he had developed sepsis or nerve damage. Can't believe the teachers were so stupid

I have a GP friend who left her daughters wrist for three days because she didn’t spot a fracture. It happens and it’s hard to differentiate between a bump and a sprain.
I think I’d speak to the school and get their view.

If he had been put into a cast he wouldn't have been able to fly, the cabin pressure causes swelling and inside a cast this causes problems. Normally a child would go to have the cast cut and then specially taped before a flight, and that would be only after a few days.

Therefore, it was not ideal but better that your child came home than be stuck in another country. I'm surprised they didn't ring to discuss with you but there may have been reasons they couldn't.
There is a huge difference between a broken wrist (which is obvious and needs hospital care) and a fracture, which needs a splint. Although it's clearly painful, your child is unlikely to have suffered damage and at least he is now home, where he would rather be.

Shocking.

They denied him medical attention when it was required. I would be complaining without a doubt.

Having broken my wrist skiing in France, the medical centre there put me in a splint rather than a cast so I could fly back to UK

Definitely complain

I would be far from happy - especially as the first I heard about it was when they returned home.

I would go into the school and ask for a copy of the risk assessment / policy and for a copy of the accident plan plus the report of how they responded eg accident happens at x tone, what they did , what medication they have ,what checks they made etc.

Depending on above would affect how I would then take action . Also what level of medical knowledge did said teacher have who made the decision - did they even seek medical assistance of any kind ?

@WanderingMilly, how could it conceivably be better to risk exacerbating the injury, blood clots and the like just for the sake of being at home? A fractured wrist is a broken wrist.

I broke my wrist on a school trip overseas and was taken to A&E at the time and treated. My parents were called and informed at the time (it wasn’t particularly serious so no need for them to fly out). A teacher stayed with me and was kind. We then travelled back. I think it’s very weird not to seek medical attention for a young person in your care.