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 would def be making a complaint. Withholding medical treatment is unacceptable.

My 14yr old broke 2 bones in his arm on a school ski trip. He was lifted off the mountain and taken to a medical centre than transferred to a hospital for a general anaesthetic and had it reset and casted. They had it checked again the next day before starting the coach journey home.

The staff were amazing. The teacher not only kept him calm, he paid for the treatment on his own card (only one he had on him), ensured the doctors gave him full reports and even copies of the xrays so we could have access back here and at one point carried him from one room to another as he was unconscious and needed moving. He treated him like his own and I couldnt praise them enough for doing the best they could in a bad situation.

Ironically about 6konths later he fractured another bone on school grounds and that staff member told him to put his arm inside his blazer pocket as a sling and it would be fine

I’d speak to the school, clarify things, then complain/discuss etc as appropriate, ask questions, make sure they are aware for the future etc. I would want my child home though.
I wouldn’t sue them ffs.

We were travelling by coach so not an issue. But I would expect them to explain to medical staff, get their best advice (maybe they have a temporary cast that you can wear flying for example) and ring you to make the final call.

they didn't seek medical attention because if it was broken then my DS wouldn't be able to fly home

This is complete bollocks. Fractures are hardly rare on ski trips and no one stays away for 2 weeks. 2 members of my family have flown home with fractures within the last couple of years.

Ski resorts are incredibly efficient with dealing with fractures too, and know how to strap people up to get them home.

Fractures aren’t always obvious, by not seeking help in case it delayed his departure was not really the best decision.

I would tell the school that it is fractured and question the grounds in which they made the decision.

If he had received medical attention and been told not to fly then one of the teachers would have had to stay with him; and I don’t think they wanted to. I think this is more about putting their needs before your sons which is disgraceful.
It must have been very painful. They obviously suspected it was broken.

The same thing happened with my ds school trip.
They did seek medical advice and the child was NOT put in a plaster due to the flight.

My understanding is that the PARENTS would have had to travel to stay with him and bring him back if they had (no idea about cost)

WanderingMilly A fracture / break are the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably by doctors.

And to get someone home they can use a splint, or back slab, for the proper cast to be put on back home.

Ski area fracture clinics are like Kwik Fit: in, out, very efficient.

How do people think ski areas would function if everyone who hit a fracture had to stay in hospital or extend their hotel / chalet booking into the next week?

When you see the head tomorrow OP, take the copies of the risk assessments etc with you.

Ask for a copy of the travel insurance as well. Did you have a policy with the school with all the children or were you responsible for you own child's? Objectively, they should have emailed this out to you before they went. Look for changes.

This is ridiculously serious. To me, it boils down to: A non medical professional has decided to delay essential medical treatment for a child in a lot of pain because they didn't want the inconvenience.

To those who think it was "ok" to wait. If you want to choose to delay your child's medical care the. I won't agree with you but as a parent that's a conversation you can have with medical professionals and possibly social services.

Broken wrist abroad, especially skiing is TOTALLY normal. Even if it was a BAD break requiring surgery there would be ways that your son could be treated and the rest of the trip go home. You or a friend or family member could fly out and meet him BUT their risk assessment should cover that scenario. So ask for it.

I'm a school safeguarding lead. The staff supervising the trip made a serious error of judgement in failing to seek medical attention for your DS. But posters telling you to 'lawyer up' and report to Ofsted are misguided. MN seems to think that whenever a parent has a complaint or concern about anything school related it should immediately be reported to Ofsted but the reality is that they actually have a very specific remit. Schools have their own complaints procedures, it needs to be raised with the school in the first instance, there is a process for these things. Ask to speak with the Head Teacher tomorrow as it's likely they aren't even aware of the situation (since the staff didn't even think it necessary to call you, the parent!) and go from there. The HT will be able to give you a copy of the Complaints procedure if you wish to make a formal complaint.

What happened was wrong, absolutely. But those advising you to instruct a solicitor to 'sue' the school before you've even made the Head aware of the issue, let alone given them a chance to investigate and take action are being completely OTT.

It’s all been said but I just want to say that I’m shocked by this. Medical attention should have been sought immediately for your son. You should have been informed. All other considerations are immaterial.

I think there is too much complaints going on in the UK

he had a fracture of his wrist, they explained why they couldnt get a cast, he had a bandage, he came home

To all the posters saying ‘sue’ or ‘instruct a solicitor’, the OP cannot sue unless the delay in getting treatment has caused damage to her son.

Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like it has - for a scaphoid fracture, delaying getting a cast on it by 24 hours isn’t going to make any difference.

When my daughter broke her scaphoid, when the hospital first x-rayed her we were told it wasn’t broken. It wasn’t until 3 days later that we got a call asking us to bring her back for another x-ray, at which point they put her in a cast.

Dd has made a complete recovery and 10 years later, has no problems with her wrist at all, regardless of the delay in getting a cast.

Why couldn't he fly home if they confirmed a fracture? My friend broke his leg abroad and we flew home as normal?

Dd came home from Skiing with school last night with a cast on from a fall.
I'd have been very angry had it not been x-rayed and seen too. Hers was a split cast seeing the clinic didn't know if she was flying home. She was on a coach so it didn't matter, but still had to be seen to.
Hope he heals soon. Poor kid must have been in agony.

Since most airlines will not let you fly the day after a fracture, then I would have been fine with the teacher doing this. Although they should have phoned and asked.
He would have had to miss the flight and fly the day after - if there was seats available.

@Ugzbugz A lot of airlines do not people with a fracture fly home the next day.

Why are people saying 'get a solicitor's

The reasonable response is to first speak to the school and the decide if you want to formally complain. Not engage a solicitor immediately, spend money and start trying to sue the school before theres even been a converstation.

It is quite possible that the airline would refuse to fly the child. My son was hospitalised on holiday and the charter airline refused to fly him home. BA would, and their flight was the day before so we lost a day’a holiday...travel insurance paid.

Sorry a proper converstation with the school.

I do think this is poor, the teacher should have contacted you at the very least so you could have some input into the decision, or arrange to meet at the airport.

I was on a residential trip last year (within the UK) where a child had a suspected fracture. The parent was phoned as soon as possible and it was agreed a teacher would take the child to a and e. At every stage the parents were phoned and informed and allowed a role in decision making as far as possible. There were contingency plans for all situations - as there should be on all trips.

In my opinion what has happened isn't OK, and I would want to discuss it with the school on Monday.

If he has a bone scan pending then he has a possible fracture in his wrist.
Lets wait for the results of the bone scan before jumping to conclusions. if it is the bone i am thinking of then standard treatment is put in a splint -so no harm done.

I am medical.

I would have expected the school to have contacted you so you could make a decision based on what they told you

I’m shocked that they didn’t call you to ask what you would have wanted? We had a break in a field trip towards the end of a week (not skiing) and it delayed everyone coming back as we were travelling by coach so it was quite a frustration for the kids and the parents who had organised pick ups etc. It was also very difficult finding accommodation for 50+ people that was ‘safe’ for an extra night.

I’d be cross that I had not been contacted and that the child had not at least been assessed.
I think you would need to find out if any actual harm had been done by waiting before deciding what to do.

'gross neglect of their duty of care. the implications of this could be huge for whoever made that decision. can you imagine if he had suffered shock... sepsis... who knows what could have happened to the poor child. and to make him suffer pain without any kind of relief is outrageous

I'd be livid- this is highly, highly dangerous. What if leaving the fracture affected his ability to use that hand permanently. OMG you need to follow this through- I'd be taking legal action.

Surely they could’ve made the break worse by bandaging it with no medical training?!