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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Following an accident at nursery, at what point would you expect nursery to make the decision as to whether the child needs to go to hospital?

10 replies

ceebeegeebies · 27/03/2013 21:02

I got a phone call today from nursery saying DS2 had fallen over and banged the side of his head/ear and his ear had split open and was bleeding so could I come and get him and decide if he needed to go to hospital.

I was an hour away which I told them but said I would get there as soon as I could.

When I got there, DS2 was absolutely fine, eating his tea, there was a 1cm slit in the inside of his ear which wasn't bleeding at all and DS2 said it wasn't hurting. I brought him home and he spent the rest of the afternoon bouncing round the lounge.

The assistant manager said to me 'I wanted you to come and look at it so you could decide if he needed to go to hospital'. I am hoping that, bearing in mind I was an hour away, that if it was obvious that DS2 had needed treatment that he would have been taken to hospital but maybe I am wrong.

Is this general policy to get the parents to come 'and have a look' at injuries?

OP posts:

nannyof3 · 27/03/2013 21:04

Its not normal... Nursery should decide if they think the child should go to hospital and it would be a case of you meeting them at the hospital

libertyflip · 27/03/2013 21:11

No not normal for us...we would be meeting you at hospital too.

YellowandGreenandRedandBlue · 27/03/2013 21:15

No, that's very bad practice, not at all ok.

They need to be able to use judgment. What if you hadn't answered? Or had been three hours away?

I wouldn't trust them twice, they sound useless!

Original poster

ceebeegeebies · 27/03/2013 21:37

Thanks for the responses - they have confirmed my instincts about this.

As it is, DS2 really didn't need to go to hospital so it was fine but I can't help thinking about what if his injury had been worse than it was and they sat there with him for over an hour waiting for me to turn up and make the decision rather than taking him to hospital themselves??

As it is, I am a little annoyed that I had to dash from work, make DH leave work early too (he was about 90 mins away) so that he could be home in time to pick up DS1 from school as I had assumed I would be stuck at hospital - when in fact, the injury was quite minor (thankfully!)

I think I will try and speak to the manager about my concerns

OP posts:

Sirzy · 27/03/2013 21:40

If your worried then ask them what they would do.

It sounds like it wasn't a serious injury but the time some parents would rather get checked out. There was no urgent need to go to hospital so they didn't have to do anything. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't call an ambulance if they deemed something to be urgent enough to need treating immediately.

OddBoots · 27/03/2013 21:41

I had this with dd at school when she fell in the playground and split her chin, I took her to out of hours rather than the hospital because it was a borderline case.

Original poster

ceebeegeebies · 27/03/2013 21:45

I wasn't planning on taking him to A&E but I would have taken him to the Urgent Care Centre that we have at the hospital.

I guess I am not talking about the kind of injury that requires an ambulance as I would really really hope that in the event of a major emergency, they would call an ambulance. I am wondering what they would do if it was a bad injury (but not an emergency) but bad enough that sitting at nursery without medical care for over an hour may have a detrimental effect?

Not sure if that makes sense now - I am tired!

OP posts:

dribbleface · 28/03/2013 14:21

I would imagine that any serious accident where you could not reach them would be an ambulance job. Taking children in your own car, would require 2 staff members, adequate car seats etc. It is not something as a nursery we would do as standard.

They called you so that you could make the decision, as is your right as a parent. I have had a parent complain where I haven't called them for a very minor injury, so as a nursery you cannot win.

candodad · 04/04/2013 21:01

We have been with our nursery for four years and they know which parents are likley to react "worse" than others. Its down to each nursery I suppose.

duffybeatmetoit · 08/05/2013 23:56

You might like to know that Ofsted only require nurseries to get medical help in the event of an accident. This help does not have to be appropriate to the injuries sustained. You may find it advisable to give the nursery guidance in writing as to what you expect (eg: in the event of a serious accident they are to call an ambulance).

My DD was badly burned at her nursery and they took her by car to a minor injuries clinic staffed by nurses. Ofsted said this was acceptable as they had complied with Ofsted's requirements. The nurseries actions were clearly inadequate given the extent of her injuries and that she had to be immediately transferred to the regional burns unit

Ofsted had no interest in whether the nursery staff took an appropriate course of action as their regulations only specify that medical help is obtained.

I would suggest that a responsible nursery would evaluate the injury and get an appropriate medical opinion if needed. As you are some distance away I would expect them to let you know if they required treatment straight away or let you know on arrival that they need to be monitored.

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