Nowehere willing to take on Severe Allergy? Advice?

[TwittleBee]

Hello all,

A while back we were told that DS could no longer stay at Nursery as weaning uncovered a severe fish allergy (requires epi-pen) and the Nursery were not willing to make changes to create a safe environment for him.

We thought this was just a one off occurrence.

Roll on a few months later. DS is happily settled in with a great Childminder but as we are moving and as he is getting more sociable we thought we would put him on a few Nursery waiting lists closer to my work or our new house.

But the 3 nurseries we have looked round have all has the same response of the 1st nursery; they aren't willing to look after a child with a sever allergy.

Some of the reasons have been:

• No one is Epi-pen trained (couldn't they train someone whilst we waited for a place?)
• As children self serve and self feed they cant guarantee fish wont come into contact with him (are they unable to wash children after they have eaten and have DS eating seperate or perhaps just reserve fish for days DS wouldn't attend?)
• Fish is a vital food source for some children at the nursery and they do not want to isolate them by having someone with a fish allergy on site (isn't this isolating my child?)

I did ask how comes they are able to make their nurseries nut-free zones yet not do the same for my DS (especially when currently there was no one with a nut allergy in attendance at the nurseries - I asked!)

Perhaps I am being unreasonable - just in shock at how hard living with an allergy is going to be for DS!

Any advice on how to tackle this situation? Is there a way we can help our preferred nursery become allergy friendly, e.g. pay for the epi-pen training (didn't even realise this was a thing btw, it is very easy to use, was only shown once by a Dr!) or come up with meal alternative plans for them?

I second the poster that suggested Busy Bees. They were great with DS’s multiple allergies. Their policy was that he had to sit on a separate table to eat which worried me at first. However this was great for DS as a staff member sat next to him chatting to him for the entire mealtime so he loved the opportunity for 1-2-1 time with staff.

jannier thank you for your, totally missing the point of my post, opinion. rolls eyes

thereinmadnesslies thank you! I have booked in to take a look a look around next week. Great to hear of how you have also had a positive experience with them with your allergy DS

Hi,TwittleBee**, How did your visit go at the Nursery?

Monny1 I've booked in to look round on the 14th now, bit too busy at work this week. Had a look through their website and drove past them though and does look promising. Thank you

It’s against the equality act to refuse a place based on an allergy because a food allergy is classed as a disability. They can’t refuse to provide a service due to a disability.

Although tbh I wouldn’t want to force a setting to take my child - they need to be on board to keep him safe. You could kick off though - send a quick email to Ofsted telling them they’re ignoring the Equality Act.

www.crae.org.uk/media/26362/Equality-Matters-for-Children-CRAE-Equality-Act-guide.pdf

Thank you Devilishpyjamas I did already kick off to Ofsted with the 1st nursery and they said they weren't interested...

Best of luck TwittleBee. As if managing severe allergies isn't bad enough without all this extra crap to deal with.

AgedTawnyPort thank you! Yeah it is a nightmare, especially as DS had another reaction (not anaphylactic this time thankfully!) to something else recently and not sue what it was yet!

No worries. Will wait for your update re:Nursery.

Ofsted weren’t interested? I’d email them again and cc the MP, & quote the equality act. They may become interested long enough to do something with an mp copied in.

(Write at the top your address, phone number, you live in constituency and are cc’ing MP for his info - it’s usually enough).

I’ve had 18 years with a severely disabled child - getting responses to concerns is my specialist subject

Oooo that's a good Call Devilishpyjamas thank you!

Good luck :)

Former nursery manager her, I wouldn't dream of turning a family away due to an allergy. Over the years we cared for some incredibly severe allergies which were managed with plans and capable key people. The only time a nursery should and in my experience legally refuse a child would be if they couldn't cater for their individual needs, e.g a severe disability that requires specialist training and equipment that wouldn't fit in the setting, our setting was in an old converted barn so having a hoist simply wouldn't fit. Epi pen training can be delivered free by a nurse thats exactly how we trained all of our staff. Imo the settings that have refused you are not good enough to care for your little one. Keep searching and the right place will come along, your just know as your get the feeling! Good luck.

Thank you SprinkleSomeSparkles worryingly they are Ofsted "Outstanding" and even have notes saying how great they are at being "inclusive". With the 1st nursery that's what pissed me off the most!

Why not print off their inspection and take it back with you, question the manager about their inclusiveness? Just be honest say you really liked their setting and after doing your homework can't find a justified reason as to why they can't accept you.

I did do that, and I did try the nice route too before going to Ofsted about it. They just said that I'm now understanding what they meant by that and it's not reasonable for them to take on someone with serve allergies. Their attitude drink tbh but at least I did get a full refund which probably shows an admission of guilt? And like a PP said I'd rather not send DS there if they aren't secure in coping with his needs

*I'm mis understanding

*stunk (not drink)

Omg should have read through before pressing send lol

What about vegetarian or vegan nurseries