Complaint From Parent

[Lucy P]

A child arrived at nursery yesterday morning with a swollen, puffy face. After questionning staff i learnt that dad had applied a moisturiser in which she had reacted to. Staff could not tell me when the cream was applied, what cream it was, how quickly she reacted and an incident form was not completed (they all know the procedure ~ but anyway that is another story!)

 

I telephoned mum to find out more details but she didn't answer all three emergency contact numbers given

 

On my second observation of the child, myself and the deputy decided that she was not her usual self, she appeared lethargic, cuddling a teddy ~ completley out of character. I decided i would not put her or the nursery at risk and phoned dad asking him to collect her. After much protesting he arrived.

 

This morning mum arrived armed with a letter of complaint (copied to Ofsted and the child's keyworker (?)), she feels we completley over reacted and how could she be at risk from anaphylactic shock when her face had been swollen for 3 days. Obviously i didn't know that the cream had been applied 3 days earlier, for all i knew it could have been 10 mins before she arrived (and in any case, i feel we should be concerned that the reaction hasn't dissipated over that time). She now feels that the issue can only be satisfactorily resolved by way of financial compensation, and we should reimburse her the childcare fees.

 

As far as i am concerned, i still feel i acted appropriatley by sending the child home, due to the swelling being very close to her airway and would do the same again. I certainly do not want to set a precedent by reimbursing the fees. I now need to respond to the letter and copy it to Ofsted, do you think it is right to stick to my guns or should i just pay up and shut up???

 

Sorry for the long post

[Guest]

You are right to stick to your guns Lucy. At least I would not pay up and shut up. Perhaps you need to write a letter to the parents explaining exactly why you decided to send her home and that for all concerned this was the best possible action to take. Often people calm down when they have had time to think things through and reasoning on paper is often better than trying to do it face to face when emotions are running high.

Definately inform OFSTED-even if they don't carry the complaint through. That way you are sure you have informed them rather than somebody else.

Linda

[Lucy P]

Thanks Linda

 

I'm glad you feel that way, i thought i was going mad at one point today

[hali]

Hi i agree with linda, when we did our new 12hr 1st aid course, our tutor told us to 'pass it on' always, even for a scratch... thats what they do pass it on to the hospital!!!!!, you were definatly correct!!!

[SueFinanceManager]

Hi Lucy

 

Don't reimburse them, explain that the child is your priority, you acted with her best interests as the reason for your actions. Our policy must always be to be over cautious I think, as the consequences of not reacting could be too awful to contemplate. How would they have felt if you'd phoned from the hospital where she was in a serious condition caused by an anphalactic reaction.

 

Maybe you should point that out when you write to them, always better safe than sorry I think.

 

Sue x

[JacquieL]

Poor you how upsetting, but stick to your guns. i think under the circumstances the child's parents should have clearly explained what had happened to your staff and put this in writing. Perhaps this is something you need to put in place for the future in your policies - the onus shoudl be on the parents to ensure thier children are fit to attend - you will then be responding positively to the incident. The parents should be glad to have someone who shows such care and concern for their children.

[Guest]

I agree with all of the above!

Good luck and tell us how it goes...

[Guest]

Can't believe some parents. You did the right thing. We have incident forms that we have all the staff members involved fill out and we keep them on file. I agree in you writing a letter to the parents and explain why you did what you did and that their childs health was the most important issue to you and that you do not feel that you were in the wrong or you over reacted and will not reimburse the fees.

Big possibility you will lose child but your concience is clear.

 

Just write everything down .

 

Net x

[michaelle]

Ooh yes you must stick to your guns! Let us know how you go on.

[Sue R]

Another great big agreement, here!!

 

Sue

[Andreamay]

It might be a good idea to also write an account of how you discussed with staff about the importance of filling in existing injurys forms and what procedures you have to make sure this will be carried through in future as ofsted will not be happy there was no record or enough information asked on arrival.As long as you accepted there was a staff error and how you dealt with it you will be fine stick to your guns.

[Beau]

Haven't got anymore to add, as everyone has given you great advice. Don't think you are going mad - our primary concern is always with the children and you did the best thing. Hopefully in time the parents will appreciate this fact.

[Guest]

There may be lots of reasons why the parent has reacted this way: guilt because they knew, hand on heart, that their child should not have been sent to nursery that day. Perhaps they didn't realise the child's condition was potentially as serious as it was. There may be other issues going on that you know nothing about which has led her to blow this out of all proportion. Perhaps with a bit of a breathing space they may reconsider (difficult when the letter has been sent to Ofsted already).

 

Like all of the other people who have answered: I think you did exactly the right thing. Writing to the parents explaining carefully why you did what you did, and that changes to your procedures have been made (if they are necessary) may help, but you may have to face the fact that this parent might never see eye to eye with you on this.

 

With regard to repayment of fees, refer her to your policy: does it say that fees are payable in the child's absence? And what does your policy say about excluding children who are ill for whatever reason? Is there a clause in there somewhere saying that if, in the nursery management's view, the child is unwell that the parent agrees to collect the child and take him/her home?

(I'm going to check our policies about this real soon!).

 

If these issues are covered in your policy, then the parent will have signed up to these when the child joined your group.

 

Hopefully this parent will come to realise that you only had the best interests of the child at heart when you sent her home.

 

Of course this particular parent may just see this as a way of getting some money out of you. If you feel confident that you did the right thing, and if having evaluated the situation you would do the same again to maintain the health and safety of the children in your care, then definitely stick to your guns. Why should you be bullied into making an admission of blame when you have done absolutely nothing wrong?

 

Let us all know how you get on - we're all right behind you!

 

Maz

[Lucy P]

Thank you all so much for the great advice you have given

 

I came home yesterday wondering if i had done the right thing, but you all gave me the confidence to realise i had and that i should stick to my guns.

 

Today i wrote a letter to the parent outlining my reasons for sending her daughter home, that i still felt my decision was correct and that i would do the same again. I explained in line with my company policy i would not be reimbursing the fees. I also added that her letter had highlighted problems with our incident reporting, which have been dealt with immediatley. (All 27 staff informed of correct procedure to follow, did this all day until i was satisfied they knew it inside out!) Also, all recorded for Ofsted purposes (Thanks Andreamay )

 

I now have to sit and wait to see if she will follow this up (her daughter is not due in until next Tues now).

 

Sadly, i know she will, because all she really wants is the money, so regardless of what i have written, as there was no cheque enclosed she probably wont even read it

[Guest]

I agree with all and as a footnote to your letter to the parent you could ask for an "Emergency" contact number that she CAN be contacted on !

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Peggy makes a good point here. Had you been able to get hold of the parent by telephone quickly it may have made a difference to how you handled the situation.

 

It sounds to me Lucy that you have handled the whole thing really well: you've explained your position, calmly and politely. You've identified a change needed to your procedures, and you've taken action to ensure this is implemented from now on.

 

Any of your parents should feel extremely confident in your ability to handle an 'incident' such as this in future, and happy that their children's welfare is at the top of your list of priorities.

 

I will be very interested to hear how Ofsted handle this.

 

Maz

[Guest]

Hi Lucy

Having read Maz's post it may be worth sending out a letter to all of your parents explaining what has happened and new procedures you have put in place-just in case she has had a moan to other parents. They will then know that you have dealt with the situation and learned from it.

Linda

[Guest]

Another good point Linda!

 

You'd need to think very carefully about what you said in the letter though: probably best just to write to parents outlining the new procedure/policy, without referring to the incident itself. You wouldn't want to single this parent out and make an example out of the incident (even though at present you may feel like throttling the parent concerned!!)

 

Do you ask parents/carers to sign a document to say they have read your policies and agree to abide by them? We do - and each time the policy document is updated or changed we ask them to sign again. That way we can point out to the parent that they have agreed to this policy, and both parties know exactly what is expected.

 

You could also take this opportunity to do an 'audit' on the emergency contact details you hold for each child and make sure they're up to date.

 

Sorry - didn't mean to lecture - am in tutor mode, obviously!!

 

Maz