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.

Where I live, this is standard procedure after injury. Ds once hurt his head at nursery (passed out from the impact) and we got a follow up call despite it happening at nursery. Another time he injured his foot at soft play, same again ss followed up. Third time he hurt his lip/teeth at a birthday party, same again.

As others have said, this is more than likely standard procedure. Just be honest and calm and explain what happened.

You have had a shock and very upsetting few days with your little one. No doubt beating yourself up. Accidents happen OP, to all of us. That's why an Accidents & Emergency unit exist at the hospital 😊. And when accidents are happening, to vulnerable people (ie you g babies/children) there are safe guarding procedures in place to ensure they are safe.

Call them back, explain what has happened and take it from there. I have had the call three times, they never did anything at all other than that one phonecall to follow up. And I was on the Health Visitors 'register' for severe PND. They just wanted an explanation to why it had happened and how.

A friend of mine had a toddler who fell down their stairs (baby gate left open by older child). Toddler had a terrible bruise and my friend was in bits. SS did a follow up call and in her case they did a visit as well. Then she never heard from them again.

Just follow their process, it is there to protect your little one.

As an ex Social Worker I totally agree. My view is that poster is not a social worker. Thus is totally normal practice and no reason to complain.

This probably depends on area. We're in Birmingham and never had a call/visit from a social worker after A&E trips with our 3 children. Not even after a head injury.

You've had a lot of responses here OP. But just to add, medical professionals aren't trained to assess parenting capacity, that's the social workers job. So that's why things need to be referred.

As others have said, injuries tend to refer automatically, but the hospital should have told you that they were going to do this.

I wouldn't worry. I doubt you'll even get a visit from a social worker.

I get the anxiety related to SS, but be open and honest with them when they call 😊

Another one who had a visit (from a HV) the day after an A&E visit. My toddler daughter put her elbow out at Tumble Tots when I was holding her hand and she pulled away in her enthusiasm to get to the equipment.
I imagine that injuries like that can be caused in more suspect ways. But the visit was absolutely fine and we just had a nice chat.

Hi OP, I’m a police officer. Hospitals/police will make mandatory safeguarding referrals to social services if a child is either a victim/perpetrator of crime, any time there is any concern for their welfare (as in the cases of suspected neglect, mistreatment etc) or when a child sustains an injury such as the one your child sustained.
SS will follow up with you then likely close the matter very quickly when they see that it was a genuine mistake and nothing sinister going on.
your child will not be taken from you.
It’s really scary for people that have never had any involvement in those services but please rest assured that they’re not the enemy and things are done this way now to try to ensure that at risk children don’t slip through the cracks.
If it makes you feel any better, I have been referred myself along with several colleagues of mine due to children having accidents.

They definitely should’ve informed you they were going to do it though.

As others have said, this is normal. When my son cracked his head open at nursery and had it glued together at A&E I got a follow up call from the health visitor even though he hadn’t been in my care at the time! I wasn’t told in advance this would happen so it did come as a bit of a shock.

Same child then bit a hole through his tongue a few months later - another A&E trip and another health visitor call. At least the second time I was prepared. I just explained what had happened, told them son was now recovering well and that was that. Please don’t worry OP, these accidents happen to all of us and there won’t be any follow up.

no A and E depts have a duty to refer to SS if there may be a safeguarding issue. Are you sure that you are a SW?

Don't worry. They have to contact them.
My son badly hurt himself, IN SCHOOL with teachers witnessing it - was still reported to SS. Nothing came of it.

When my daughter was 13 months she had a convulsion. Taken to hospital by ambulance. When we were discharged my health visitor called the next day. To check how we were all doing. So this could just be the same. Take care x

My son broke his finger when he was 2. I randomly bumped into the health visitor when I was out and she mentioned it and asked if he was ok but if I hadn’t randomly met her she wouldn’t have contacted me about it, she even said something along the lines of “I knew you’d be ok so I haven’t contacted you”. Maybe the same in your case, was reported to health visitor and they had no concerns so didn’t contact you.

Editing as I forgot to quote the poster

It must vary area to area as I never heard a thing when my son cut his head and had at glued age 4 or when he broke a finger age 2.

Oh my goodness OP don’t complain about the referral, that’s crazy advice! Comply with them as much as you can. Also, as other posters have said it’s totally normal for referrals to be made in this way. I’d be very dubious of this poster saying they’re a social worker

Also OP part of SS’ remit is to support families and provide advice (which includes things like safety in the home). They’re not there just to vilify families. It will be ok OP.

The best response yet. Please don’t worry, perfectly normal.

As opposed to the first comment by an apparent Social Worker that clearly doesn’t know how things work

My daughter had hospital treatment for cellulitis and a few days later a health visitor/ social worker called.
They said always follow up on hospital treatment and how were we all.
We had a chat and all was well, never heard from them again.

I honestly would let it go it sounds like you are very anxious and over thinking. I hope you feel better about it all soon.

We’ve had 2 or 3 follow ups after incidents with dc that took us to hospital.

Hospital just following procedure. It was because we went a few times in the space of a year. Had a phone call with the SS no one came out to visit us. They were satisfied it was an accident and it went away in the end

Think about all the horrific cold protection cases like baby P, this is checking you aren’t one of them. They are overworked and will be delighted to find all us in order and your child is safe and well looked after. A friend had this as their child broke an arm twice before the age I’d about 6. It didn’t last.

One of our social services follow ups was a cracked head and gluing back together

Please don't complain. You have the luxury of being a bit miffed - but there's a child out there who needs protecting and if it makes life a bit uncomfortable for you for a few days I don't care (or for me when it happened to us).
The social workers will be lovely. They're doing a hard thankless job. If they do want to see you go buy the nicest packet of biscuits and enjoy speaking to them. They're usually lovely and very complimentary when they realise there isn't anything to worry about.

We had it automatically referred when my dd ended up in A&E twice in a 10 day period - both bike related accidents, one where she went too fast down a hill and went over the handlebars of her bike, the second when DH gave her a backie and she somehow caught her foot in his wheel. All fine and that was 10/11 years ago and not heard a peep since.

My DS had a burn which required an A&E visit, social worker called a few days after. They just wanted to check in. Never heard from them again. They are absolutely just doing their job, please don’t take it personally.

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.

They are contacting you to see if you are ok and need any support. All the authorities are joined up and make sure they all know about whats happening - so that they can offer support in the case of you needing it.

It the same for older people at home, if they have a fall and paramedics come out - then the paramedics contact SS to let them know. The SS contact the older person or their family and see if there is any support that they can give - care package started, or altered or any things for in the home - grab rails etc.

You are seeing SS as a negative due to press coverage only ever being negative about SS. This isn't a reflection on you, or your family.