Special school not feeding my son

Sarah943617

Wow - two threads in one day - I think someone is out to get me!!
It's not money saving but it is about disability so I'm looking for some advice.

To cut a very long story short my son (who is 6) goes to a special needs school - he is in a wheelchair, non verbal and fed through a gastrostomy tube so he is very dependent on adult support.

Today he came home from school having not had all of his afternoon feed (he has 400ml and they gave him 100ml) because someone didn't set the pump up properly between feeds. Now I would normally give the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a mistake but this is the fourth time this has happened and every time they promise me it wont happen again.

I have complained (verbally) to his class teacher, the school nurses and the head teacher but all i'm getting is a repeat of the promises that it wont happen again and I am pretty fed up.

I think it's pretty poor that he has only had 100ml of milk between 9am and 4pm - he must be starving and now I have to try and squeeze in the extra before bedtime without making him sick.

I have asked for a written letter from the head detailing what steps will be put in place to stop this happening in the future but I don't know if there is anything else I should be doing or if I should leave it at that and hope they don't do it again.

Any ideas?

Sarah

tessie_bear

get down to the school and moan loudly not quietly and repeat until it gets sorted out...thats appalling treament of him

Horace

Have you thought about righting to the Education Committee of your local council and maybe your PCT especially as the school nurses are not doing their jobs properly and feeding him when he should be fed.

Sorry don't know what else to suggest.

Sarah943617

Thanks for replies.

He has got an annual review meeting after the holidays with the head teacher and i'm not sure whether I should give them one more chance to sort it out internally or go to the education authority about it now. Either way it'll have to wait until after the holidays as I want to give the head a chance to write to me and explain what has been happening before I go steaming in there.

Sarah

Minxy_Bella

That is outrageous! The poor little mite!

I would complain to every authority you can think of - LEA, PTFA, HMI/Ofsted - go to the local papers if you have to (or at least threaten to).

This disgusting situation can't be allowed to continue - I'm appalled that they've done this once, let alone four times. Bless him!

xxxx

[Deleted User]

If you get no joy from the head then I would write to the chairman of the governing body.

Ms_Chocaholic

Given that you've been to the Head before, I would be writing to the Chairman of Governors, Head of LEA and PCT outlining your concerns and asking that measures are put in place to ensure this does not happen again to your child (or any others).

Can I just ask, how do you know he only got 100ml and not 400ml, is that easy to work out.

lolababy

Id see what the head says first as you have written to him. In saying that Id find out who is responsible for the nurses at the school. Your son is being neglected and they are not meeting his needs . Remind the head about this and the fact that he has a duty of care towards your son.
In saying this I think its really up to how you feel about the situation. Can you wait to see the head or do you need answers now.

Sarah943617

Ms Chocaholic - he is fed by a pump so i can work out what he has had from that. If they dont check the feed bag and set the pump up properly - as the are trained to do (supposedly) he doesn't get the right amount.

Thank you for your replies. I have written a letter to the head teacher but I will have to wait until after half term now before anything can be done. I think I will give her the opportunity to respond but I have asked for deatils of the formal complaints procedure for both school and LEA. Until then I suppose i'll just have to stew on it.

Once again - thanks for your advice.

Sarah

Errata

HTH - ask for sight of the records that were completed by the school staff at the time of each feeding. The records should show how much feed was prescribed and how much feed was given. This should provide you with the evidence to make a formal complaint to the school, the local education authority. You may wish to send a copy of your complaint to your son's GP and his consultant - who are doing their best to keep your son well and their work is being undermined by school nurses failing in their duty of care. Bluntly - they are consistently demonstrating they are unable to care for your son and compromising his well being by their failure.

PolishBigSpender

All I can say to this is make sure you get what you want. It's a clear cut case - they aren't performing the duty that they're supposed to.

I would recommend calling them every day at feed time (I'm sorry to call it that, I can't think of a better way to say it!) and making sure that they've gave him the right amount, though.

Don't be afraid of them, they should be afraid of you