Can I challenge social services???

[MumzieOf5]

I’ll try to keep this as simple and as easy to follow as possible lol.
My daughter (now almost ages 11) suffered awful eczema as a toddler but thankfully it eventually cleared up and stayed away…or so we thought.
3 years ago she was rushed to hospital when she woke up one morning struggling to breathe. They attempted to give her oxygen for almost 12 hours but when that didn’t help, a medical team from London drove over an hour to pick us up and rush her to the Evelina Hospital where she was immediately put on a ventilator and stayed in intensive care for a week. Thankfully she pulled through and we discovered she had asthma and this was her first attack.
Soon after being discharged, the trauma had affected her so much that the eczema slowly came back and progressively spread and got worse over time. She has been suffering with so much pain and has a terrible school attendance especially over the last year. We’ve seen countless doctors and dermatologists and been prescribed every cream and ointment but nothing made much difference.
Recently social services have gotten involved after her school reported to them that they were concerned about her eczema not improving and so I was investigated. Despite my explanation about her condition and giving them access to her medical records showing all the prescriptions over the years, they’ve come to the conclusion that I am medically negligent and now we have been placed under a child protection plan.
They firmly believe that I must not be treating her eczema and I am to blame for it not getting any better.
Well, last week I’d had enough of being accused of something so heinous and I searched online for our old GP who treated her and my entire family for years but who left NHS to go private.
I found him and booked an appointment…costing me £200! We saw him today and he’s as amazing as I remember. He has specialised in skin conditions and eczema for the past 15 years so he knows his stuff.
He took one look at her body and her medical history and told me she has been let down by all of the doctors we’ve seen. I am not to blame!!! I burst into tears!
Tomorrow we are beginning quite an aggressive 2 week treatment plan which he assures us will attack the eczema and relieve her pain massively.
He was shocked that no one had treated her with anything stronger than ointments and creams for 3 whole years.

My question now, that I hope someone can help me with, is how to challenge the social services department and the child protection plan?

This may not be helpful, but I'd be consulting a solicitor with a view to a case for medical negligence. I don't know how SS work but I suspect going on the offensive for failings may be more effective than defending yourself. Best of luck

Firstly- engage with them, don't get hostile. Be polite, correct things calmly.

Secondly I would assume the protection plan is more about the school attendance? If thats the case start asking them for support to get her into school whether that's her current one or a new setting.
Update them about the new treatment plan. Show them that you're making effort.

Now on the eczema side of things - has she been being given things with parabens in? Many eczema creams contain it, and some people react to it and it actually worsens the eczema. If this treatment plan works then once you're able to stop using the stronger ointments (presuming they've given steroid based and antibacterial to cover bases and taken swabs hopefully?) Then try using a maintenance cream such as aproderm colloidal oat cream. Don't be put off attempting it by it seeming gentle - that's often what is needed to avoid the cycle flaring up again.
Also do you have any pets in the house? If so request an allergy blood test, as allergies can develop at any age and asthma combined with eczema beginning suddenly should be raising flags for potential allergy triggers.

Thanks for your comments. I should have said that over the years we’ve been using steroid creams and antibiotics and more. I even went down the route of more natural herbal remedies. Oat baths, chamomile tea baths, a supplement to add to her food, removing dairy from her diet, gotten allergy tested which came back as high reactions to pollen, dust, dust mites and animal hair. The new treatment plan which I should be able to collect from my pharmacy tomorrow, is new. He’s prescribed her stronger steroids but these are oral. Dissolvable pills that she has every morning for 2 weeks. Slowly reducing the dose over that time. The doc said my daughter should have been given this when her eczema first became severe over 2 years ago. She doesn’t sleep because nights are the worst. She screams the house down in pain all night most nights, leaving her exhausted the following day AND me. I’ve gotten to the point where sleep deprivation and anxiety etc is destroying me. I have other younger children too so it’s not like I can sleep in the day to catch up on missed sleep and I’m a single parent.
Today has given me and my daughter something we’ve not felt this whole time…hope! The feeling that something is finally changing and she’s being given the dedicated attention and care she’s not had up until now. I’ve been fighting for someone to help her and now someone is telling me I’m not at fault and better yet, confident that it’s being treated correctly and above all…effectively!

You sound like a fantastic mother, OP, and a great advocate for your daughter. I'd get some legal advice if I were you. I believe Irwin Mitchell specialise in these areas.