Another fatal incident at nursery

[TJk86]

I really dislike nurseries for under 3s for many reasons but it seems that they are not even safe anymore these days. Every other week a story like this pops up on the news. To think a reform is needed to make nurseries safer (Better ratios for example)? In this instance, it’s also been decided that no one will bear the consequences of this accident which must be awful for the parents.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15177433/Toddler-allergies-died-following-medical-episode-nursery-given-dairy-yogurt-mistake-parents-say.html

I notice the parents say the nursery had one job, to look after their little boy. Sadly, that isn't true, their job was to look after a large number of children. And this is the problem of having almost universal childcare for under fives - they are placed in situations where harm can be done without anyone meaning to harm them. Better staff ratios and fewer children under the age of three in nursery settings, I think. But also we need to de-marketise childcare which at the moment is a profitable industry, not an education system. That needs to change (some hope 😪).
Edited for punctuation

Oh well, just one of those things, eh!!!!

Being ‘young’ and ‘poorly paid’ does not exempt you from a duty of care and being allergy aware
they should know the kids in their room/ group and double check who can eat what

No, the incident was not just one of those things, as we both know. It was the result of running childcare for profit - we have known this at least from the eighteenth century if not before!

I don't understand why some posters always go on about poorly paid workers or minimum wage workers as if that's an excuse for everything.

It's actually really patronising.
Being on a low wage is not an excuse for being unprofessional or not doing your job properly.

I work with someone like you 🙄

Exactly.

There are many, many excellent nursery workers who are poorly paid with huge responsibilities but manage not to be responsible for the death of a child in their care.

If anyone is reading this and getting worried, don't be. It is scaremongering. The whole reason it makes the news is because it's - news. It is vanishingly rare.

Nurseries are safe precisely because there are so many staff. And the ratios are significantly higher in the UK than in other countries - that's one of the reasons we pay so much.

This is infuriating
“whoopsie never mind, you were busy, no biggie” is not an acceptable attitude to a death

I work in a nursery and we have a traffic light system,placemats and food boards in place. Cook does hand over etc staff sign it off and between make sure meal is right and if there is any doubt challenge/check/ask. Obviously everywhere runs different but the fact no one thought to check what they were giving him was right and safe.. sad.

Yes I do. And I object to you calling them 'some childcare worker' in that derogatory term. They are paid to do a responsible job. This case is nothing to do with 'attracting staff'. Do you think the parents of this poor child care about that? Someone did their job incorrectly and it lead to a child's death. They must take responsibility, surely.

Of course it is to with the nursery! What are you talking about? A child with a dairy allergy was given a yogurt at nursery.

My point is that there is zero value in specifically villainising nursery staff or nursery care over an accidental death when many other children die of accidental means every year in parental or care other than nursery.

Go ahead and find stats how many children die of accidental allergen consumption under parent, grandparent or other family care each year. Or any other accidental means that it preventable. Swimming pool drowning, traffic accidents, choking, sleep safety, etc.

Benedict Blythe was given milk at school and died

Karanbir Cheema had cheese thrown at him at school and died

Mohammed Ismaeel Ashraf died from eating an allergen at school

Maizy Harman had an anaphylactic reaction to milk from food served at school and successfully sued the council

My daughter had a severe allergic reaction due to milk a fellow classmate was consuming at school and had to go to hospital

countless near misses or fatalities from milk exposure at school.

but I don't see anyone saying we shouldn't send our children to school

I'm not against nurseries at all. Read my previous posts. I work in a nursery. I think you're confusing me with another poster.

I'm not suggesting you are. It's just you say it is about nurseries but children with allergies are vulnerable in every setting.
And it's just fascinating that I.havent seen any debate about allergies and schools, and so many teachers are alarmingly laid back about dishing out allergens

I didn't say it's about nurseries 🤷‍♀️ I meant it is about this nursery. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I hear you. We have family dotted around Europe. A close relative is a nurse, she has a crèche on site which costs peanuts. She pops in during her break to see her little one and also breastfed him when she could. This enabled her to work part time and hold on to her career. I wish the U.K. would start to move towards a more child friendly society but instead of working with women to make the maternity and childcare sector more flexible, affordable, safe and friendly the attitude is well you chose to have kids so now suffer the consequences.

Can I ask what a childminder doss when they need to go to the toilet for example? Are the children left alone while you nip to the loo? This kind of thing scared me off CMs, I had a friend whose 4 year old would always go around targeting and hurting babies and young toddlers in soft play etc, little ones were like a red flag to a bull to him. I always worried about putting my baby in with a CM because of the potential for another child to hurt her while unsupervised.

They are poorly paid which shows how much we value childcare in the UK. The most important people in the country and we do not pay people enough to look after them and we do not think that their mothers staying at home with them is of any value.
The staff were probably busy with lots of children, giving out food, making sure it was eaten etc. If a child says they want a yoghurt it is just possible the member of staff forgot - unforgivable really and the nursery should not have hidden this. But the nursery is there to make a profit not to do children any good. That's the main problem.
I am amazed the child was this intolerant to lactose/dairy products but he was and should have had his meal specifically prepared for him rather than being in the general scrum of handing out food. Negligence by the nursery, not their staff, and i hope it stays closed but that the staff are able to find other jobs.

You are overthinking this. Do you never go to the loo?

Didn’t, couldn’t I’m not sure but not everyone who can choose not to use nursery is privileged.

Waiting for a significant period before having children so savings, pensions and careers are built is key. One partner increasing their hours or taking on extra work to compensate for the other no longer working. Cut backs and reducing certain expenses for example having a cheaper car, using public transport/walking more.

Yes I do. What's your point? I have one child so no one would be hurting him and if I did have other children and knew that one would hurt the baby when I went to the loo then I wouldn't leave them alone obviously.

And yes, I did overthink what setting I would put my child in, the pros and cons etc. It's called caring about your childs wellbeing.

It's not that. Workplace creches don't make a profit and childcare is an industry which is contributing to GDP, which is why the assistance given to parents for childcare has to go to a nursery or a registered childminder and cannot be used to support the mother at home or to have grandparent/family care. We have to get round the idea that everything must make a profit or it is valueless - a shift from the neo-liberalism we have suffered since the 80s back to the economy being run on the social contract model which emerged after WWII.

Cause of death: allergy. Trigger: allergen.