Nursery failure to report medication

[Proseccoprincess33]

Today I picked my son up from nursery. He has had Scarlett fever for a week and been on antibiotics (10 day course) so nursery were happy to have him back as infectious period had passed. I sent his antibiotic in and explained he was to have 2 doses during the day and the times. When I collected him they said he had his medication but when I got him I read his handover sheet and only one dose was specified at 12.30pm. I subsequently gave him the missed dose (5.30pm) and about 15 minutes later he threw up and was very upset.

I decided to ring the nursery and ask about the second dose and the manager said she had given it to him at 4.15 pm but said she forgot to record it. She was very Blaise about it and I was so shocked I didn't say much. But the more I think about it the more I'm getting angry and am now feeling I cannot trust the nursery when it comes to medication. If that had been Calpol or ibuprofen they forgot to report and I had double dosed him it could have been much more serious.

Anyway I suppose I want to know is my anger reasonable? I will approach this tomorrow with nursery calmly but should I be asking for an incident report? And what actions they will take to prevent this from happening again? Thanks for any input xx

Having once being beholden to OFSTED I don’t say this lightly but I would report this. The potential consequences are frightening!

YANBU

I wouldn't be happy about this at all, and would report to whoever inspects the nurseries. Its so risky to have such poor medication recording.

One of my children was given medication I didn't agree to, whilst in primary. I spoke to school about it. It didn't stop the class assistant doing it again. I wish I'd been more assertive the first time.

The second time I was very graphic with the head teacher. I asked how he would feel having a child with anaphylaxis and waiting for an ambulance. I think as it was over the counter they weren't taking it seriously.

I would complain. I work in a school and we are massively diligent about medication. Procedures are followed to the letter.

Nappy change or nap not recorded - doesn’t matter a jot. They’re busy, there’s a lot going on. Medication not recorded - pretty massive deal. I’m usually extremely relaxed about what goes on at nursery, but this feels dangerous and negligent.

Would it have been wise to ring the nursery to check before you gave him the extra dose at home? I know you shouldn't have to, but as you were verbally told he had been given his medication, but only half a dose was recorded, maybe it would have been prudent to check?
Again I know you shouldn't have to and it's the nursery's fault, but...I have a DD with severe allergies and I do find it better to always double and triple check things. It wouldn't be much comfort if DC had a severe reaction to know that it was someone else's fault.

Thanks everyone so much for your input. I really appreciate it. @Foxesforme yeah I do think I should have rang them and regret not doing so. But I suppose the issue I am asking about is in relation to their record keeping and not on my failure to make sure they are doing their job and recording correctly. But I won't make the same mistake again, that's forsure x

I’d definitely report it and take it further, there’s no room for mistakes when it comes to children and medication. You could of been dealing with a potentially fatal overdose (sounds dramatic but that’s the hard hitting truth). Also since the doses haven’t been administered at the correct time, the antibiotics probably won’t work efficiently now. Poor baby!

Imagine this had of been a very strong medication? Could of damaged poor child for life. I’d not be trusting them with my child anymore! Xx

How many other careless mistakes could she have made??? I work in a care home and we get it drilled into us how important clear, concise documentation is!

Thanks for your input everyone. I feel a lot more confident approaching this tomorrow now with all of your advice and experience. It's much appreciated ❤️ And I do think I'm going to have to reconsider his nursery placement as I don't trust them now. But I will wait and see what their response is tomorrow. Xx

Just fyi one extra dose of calpol isn't dangerous

@hellosunshineagainxxx No mother would want to take that risk though would they? The recommended dosages on the box are there for a reason, so I’d be worried and consider it dangerous if my child had more than stated. Just because you can’t see the damage doesn’t mean it’s not there.

We've been using our nursery for four years and so have a great relationship with them and trust them implicitly. I think if this happened I'd consider ringing the owner to discuss it, which is something I've never done. The risks are too high.

@hellosunshineagainxxx unless you’re a doctor I’m not sure you’d know how dangerous one extra dose of calpol can be as it contains paracetamol! Harmful to take too much even for an adult.

This is a very serious error/failure, it is not a small matter. YANBU, I would make a complaint.

Of course they should have recorded it on the handover sheet, but they did verbally tell you on handover that he had had both doses?

Thanks for this again everyone. Really appreciate the responses. @Katapolts no they weren't specific, just said he took his antibiotic. There was a massive queue behind me to get kids so it was quite a rushed pick up. I acknowledge I should have clarified but there wasn't much verbal detail in handover and the manager always relies on the handover sheet to update me on how he has gotten on.

@hellosunshineagainxxx I appreciate what you're saying but I don't really care that one extra dose wouldn't hurt, it shouldn't happen and it's a risky game, esp when it comes to kids so small. The directions on the box are there for a reason x

Also this is the first time the nursery have ever administered meds to my son. So it's not like they had consistently been giving him the 2 doses and one day it wasn't on the sheet. He's only been there 3 months and they haven't so much as given Calpol, that I'm aware of anyway xx

I would definatly report it, even on the NHS website it states if an extra does of antibiotics if given at a close time like his was, it increases sides effects such as upset stomach, being sick or diarrohoea, I hope you get it sorted!

I work in nursery and in my experience you always record the medicine you are giving as you do it and another staff member is supposed to witness you give it and sign the form. So I’m surprised the recording just got forgotten about and I would question this with them.
However I would have checked before giving a dose at home but no you shouldn’t have to.

Thanks everyone. Again I know I should have checked before giving the dose at home, I have acknowledged this. As a mum I give myself a hard enough time that I'm not doing everything thing perfectly so could really use less of the mum guilt pls. Thanks

Spoke to manager and she was very apologetic and said she takes ownership for it and it won't happen again. I asked was his medication recorded anywhere else and she showed me a medications book. She faffed about with pages but didn't show me Ollie's recording (should have pushed for that) but I fully suspect it wasn't there. Then she asked had anyone asked me to sign a consent form in relation to administering his meds yesterday and they hadn't. So I said that was another failure in realtion to the medication policy and she agreed and apologised.

But I would have expected a mention of an incident form or some sort of formal acknowledgement. So unfortunately I will have to look for another nursery as it is just one too many things in my opinion. I will be reporting it all to the social work team that governs the nursery. They have recently sent out a form asking for anon feedback so I'll detail this all in the form.

Thanks again for all your help.

The fact it’s not been recorded at all is a massive safeguarding concern and you should definitely report. Did you fill out a medication form when dropping off saying how much and what time you wanted him to have it? Where I am the form has that information from the parent then we record the time and amount that’s given and by whom. The parents then sign at the end of the day. This is a big safeguarding concern if nothings recorded and I would report to ofsted.
you shouldn’t feel guilty for not checking by the way, sorry if my previous post made you feel that way.

@Bossedbyasmallperson thank you for this. No there was no form detailing the meds or when they should be taken. There was no consent form to give the meds signed. And the form that should have been signed by me or his dad at the end of the day detailing what medications were given and by whom was only given to me today to sign after is verablly complained about the issues.

So all in all none of the recording protocols were followed! I told them I was putting it in writing to them what my concerns were and wanted a written response detailing what was going to be done about it. So I have done this and am awaiting a response.

I collected my son early today so I could administer his meds as I can't trust them at all now! All a bit disastrous really 🙈 xx