I was contacted by a social worker today

[gollyimholly]

Yesterday my DD burnt her fingers on a hot stovetop https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/childrenshealth/5291681-toddler-burnt-her-fingertips-on-stovetop-recovery-questions?reply=142767113

Thankfully she is OK. The hospital contacted the local authorities/social worker department and I had a phonecall (which I missed) from a social worker. She left a voicemail and an email saying they have been alerted by the hospital that DD hurt her hand and how are we getting on at home. It was a friendly email and I replied with all the details about DD's injury and how she is doing and what the next steps are.

I am so crestfallen that the hospital think DD or our family require social worker input. DD is my whole world, DH is a doting dad and it is absolutely crushing us that we've been contacted by a social worker.

Does this mean they are going to be watching us as a family from now on? If a child has an accident with a stovetop at home or a burn injury is it an automatic referral by the hospital to a social worker? Or do the hospital suspect DH and I are bad parents? DH and I both come from families where there have never been any involvement of social services and we have no experience of what this might mean. We both feel terrible that this is happening. I cried with worry all of last night about DD's hand but ever since today's email I am even more sick with worry. Could this result in DD being taken from us? We are a stable couple, DH has a good job, we have a nice home, no drugs, we don't swear. We are trying desperately hard to give DD a good life and I can't believe we are now in contact with a social worker.

Other details that I wonder if they are relevant :
When we took DD to hospital last night, we were all a mess. DD had been crying a lot and she also is recovering from a cold. Together, he face was very tear and snot stained. I wonder if she looked very unkempt.

I was wearing a dress with buttons all the way down the front but where I was carrying DD from the car park into the building and DD was crying from pain, a good few of my buttons came undone and so my dress was undone from crotch down, I was wearing very dark tights. And I didn't notice. When DH came in from parking the car, he noticed and did up my buttons. I wonder if I looked completely deranged to the doctor and he referred us at that point.

I am having therapy at the moment for birth trauma and I wonder if the hospital saw my notes and thought as a mum with mental health problems and a toddler with this type of injury, they need to alert the social services.

We haven't taken DD to see the HV in a very long time and only took her during any mandatory appointments. But this is because last year DD was in hospital a lot for a rare genetic condition and so she was under regular medical attention (at another hospital to the one we took DD to last night) and so we were reassured her health/developmental milestones were all being addressed whilst we were under their care. But I wonder if the hospital we went to last night did not know this and then saw a toddler who hasnt been to the HV in a long time and has assumed neglectful parents.

My questions are:
Does anyone have any idea whether this referral by the hospital is triggered automatically or it's because they suspect DD is being neglected?

Could DD be taken from us?!

Are we on some kind of register now that will alert hospitals, doctors that social workers are involved with us?

Is this going to be permanently on DD's record? Would her future school know about it?

I would greatly appreciate any input from anyone who understands this system. I replied to the social workers email around 5.30pm today (I missed her call at 4.15pm) and so I haven't yet heard back what is happening.

The hospital should never make a referral without your knowledge unless it's literally a matter of life and death (in which case they wouldn't have discharged you). You should 100% complain.

I'm a social worker - I don't think you need to worry about ongoing social care involvement but cooperate with any enquiries they want to make.

Oh goodness, really? Who should we complain to?

Sorry you’ve all had such a worrying time 💐

Can’t help with social services but at 2 she’d only have had HV contact at 12 months and around 24 months. I really wouldn’t worry about that bit at all.

Calm down. It's perfectly normal for hospitals to contact the authorities when there has been an accident or injury. I had it twice when the Health visitor followed up. Everyone just wants to make sure the child is safe.

Does anyone have any idea whether this referral by the hospital is triggered automatically or it's because they suspect DD is being neglected? - it may have been automatic or they may have worried that it happened due to poor supervision. If you were super stressed you may have said things that didn't quite make sense or ring true.
Could DD be taken from us?! - no, not for this
Are we on some kind of register now that will alert hospitals, doctors that social workers are involved with us? - no
Is this going to be permanently on DD's record? - on her social services record, yes. But that will only matter if there is any future involvement. Would her future school know about it? - no.

I believe Health visitors and GPs are alerted about a&e attendances - so it's possible the contact with children's services has been made by them.

Speak with the social worker to find out where the referral came from and on what grounds you weren't informed before it was made.

If it was the hospital google complaints for your hospital - PALS should be able to help if not obvious.

Sometimes it is necessary to refer - but the system should not be causing additional stress as has happened in your case. This is why parents should be informed rather than ambushed out of the blue.

Some injuries are mandatory reporting. I once gave one of my children the wrong medication and it was reported by the hospital. It’s fine, accidents happen and everyone is just doing their job.

Thank you for your answers, I really appreciate it. I am so sad it will permanently be on her record. I feel like I've failed DD already. I am so upset 💔

I’m not a social worker but I wouldn’t panic if I were you - from what I’ve seen on here, it’s not unusual for accidents in the home involving children under 5 to be automatically referred or for health visitors, etc, to be informed. You did the right thing getting her immediate medical attention and you did the right thing responding straight away to their attempts to contact you. They will probably want to know how it happened and whether you’ve taken precautions to avoid it happening again.

If it makes you feel any better, my youngest had had more A&E trips than birthdays at one point, including a nasty cut to his eyebrow when he threw himself off the sofa sideways into some furniture (no, I don’t know why or how either 🙄), and a multitude of near misses. I should have known when he overbalanced the baby bouncer at 8 months! By a miracle, he is still in our care 😂

So whenever a child presents at a&e with an injury it results in an automatic referral to social services for any child, that's standard procedure. I used to work in social services triage and we'd review the list from a&e every morning.

They are followed up to check there is no evidence that the injury was deliberate or due to significant neglect. As there's no other evidence of either in your case it's very likely nothing further will happen.

It's nothing at all to do with the other things you raise about your presentation or history, it would have been reported to social services regardless.

I received a similar call after an A&E visit with one of my DC after they swallowed something they shouldn't have. They left a message very similar to the one you received, I called back and left a message saying everything was fine, never heard from them again.

I was fully expecting ss to ring when I took DS to A&E after he cracked his head open on a door frame. Absolutely nothing from them at all. If anything, I think not hearing from them is more concerning than hearing from them. Just be open and honest with them and it'll case closed soon enough

Totally normal procedure for young dc with accidental injuries like this. Very unlikely to result in any follow up - perhaps a health visitor visit or quick call with someone from SS.

This is completely normal and nothing to worry about. We are really lucky we have this safety net for children.

Is there any reason for social services to suspect your DH is anything other than a loving parent? It sounds like he was in charge at the time of the accident?

You sound extremely anxious about all of this. Having a child injured is really stressful but it happens to literally every family one way or the other. Your baby will be fine.

OP firstly calm down.

It will be an automatic referral due to a toddler with an injury. The social worker will likely have a quick chat with you and that will be it. The hospital staff won’t know anything about your mental health issues
unless you told them, children’s medical records aren’t linked to the parents. Your child will not be taken away from you for this, please stop panicking! It is unlikely that there will be any alerts put on any files about it, there may be a short note from
the social worker in your DD records merely saying what happened, they’ve spoken to you, no concerns, etc…this will not follow her to school, etc.

Nobody wants social services anywhere near their family (no offence, MN social workers, but you know what I mean!) but if they are going to identify and protect those children who really need it, then the rest of us do have to accept a degree of scrutiny when our children are injured. A hand burnt on a hot stove is an unfortunate accident in the majority of cases, but it is also not uncommon as a non-accidental injury in an abusive family, so they wouldn't be doing their jobs properly if they didn't check up.

Try and stay calm and keep it in perspective. You've done nothing wrong. Social workers aren't looking to manufacture reasons to remove loved, well-cared-for children (they can barely find placements for those who are urgently at risk!). You may get a phone call, but nobody is going to invade your home and start making accusations. When I've had to deal with this (twice) I've seen the worry and inconvenience as a fair price to pay for having a safety net to catch the poor little souls who don't have safe loving homes like mine.

This is routine. We had a phone call after dd2 was admitted to hospital after an allergic reaction. The hospital always does this. A quick phone call and if all is ok it'll be case closed

The hospital do automatically alert your GP/HV of any A&E attendances. I think once when we had to take DD to A&E we got a call from the HV or GP just to check out what had happened. My impression is that it depends on the reason for A&E admission, and that they probably don’t follow up if it’s a high temp or tonsillitis, but may do more routinely if it’s an accident. But they are just making sure your DD and you are OK. Your child is not in danger of being removed! I would not worry about it OP — it’s a good thing that they are routinely following up and just doing their jobs.

Sorry I should specify it was a health visitor that was alerted no a social worker

In our area every child presenting to A&E under 3 years old with a burn is referred to social services. Sometimes that'll end in a phone call, sometimes the case is closed without even contacting the parents, sometimes it's taken further I expect.

Happened to us though. Toddler burnt finger on a hot radiator pipe at the nursery she was attending at the time and they said they have to report any burn at this age. Nothing came of it obviously, but it might be an automatic trigger rather than a genuine concern.

Please don't worry - it's a formality often when a child is injured. They might want to come and look at your house and check it's not a death trap (which I'm sure it isn't) and maybe give you some advice if they feel it necessary. It is in no way a prelude to taking your child away.

Our youngest when 4 had a seizure (for the first time) and fell down some stairs while staying over at my parents while we were out for my birthday. I got a call from social services a day or two later, as I knew might happen. They asked why there was no stairgate and I said my parents had one they used for a while, but at 4 our DC was old enough to use the stairs and our youngest, also staying over, was not yet mobile, hence it not being in use. I think they asked a bit about why the kids were staying over, my parents' age and health, eg they were checking we weren't gallavanting off all the time leaving the kids with ancient, grandparents in an unsafe house, and they could clearly tell we weren't. They said they might call about a visit but they never did, and it wouldn't have been a problem if they had.

Please don't worry - they just want to check there's no concerning context at home and give advice if necessary.

Don’t panic OP, it’s standard practice.

I had calls from the health visitor for both my boys when they were little and had attended hospital. Everything from DS1 falling off a trampoline and hitting his head, to DS2 breaking an arm falling off his bike. They asked a few questions about what happened and asked if I was doing ok.

After Baby P, I think they check much more frequently in case parents aren’t coping.

I really wouldn’t worry about it being a “permanent record”. Thousands of children across the country must have the same record!

Confused by the poster purporting to be a social worker saying the referral is not appropriate and to complain.

Any A&E attendance for an accident triggers this with young kids. Totally normal and expected.

I'm an ED nurse and we have to do safeguarding referrals for anything like this even if you are certain it was an accident

My son burnt his fingers in a strange way as a toddler and we were questioned several times. Fortunately it was done in ED (twice I’ll add) and then maybe once when we visited the burns unit for a dressing change so no unexpected phone calls.

It was upsetting to have to explain and the thought someone might have thought it might not be accidental was very embarrassing.

However I chose to look at it positively as I knew it was an accident so I was grateful that for every child, accidents like that are questioned thoroughly and they don’t presume a child is safe no matter who you are. It made me feel better for the children who it might be intentional, or are not safe, that all children are looked out for.

hope your child recovers quickly. Try not to be upset about the social worker.