Urgent - Taking a child out of nursery due to neglect immediately

marywooyeah

Hi everyone, sorry for the long post but it is all vital.
My 11 month old son has been going to nursery for 3 days a week for the last 4 months, since he was 7 months while I have been at work. I am more than aware that babies will have accidents and know that they happen in a split second.
About 5 weeks ago my partner collected him from and nursery at 6.15 pm and when the girl picked him up to pass him over she said "oh he has a bump on his head" and sounded surprised. the bump was about a 5p piece and was raised swollen and red. she said she didnt know how it had happened and made my partner sign a disclaimer form and gave him a sheet on head injurys. he called me about half 8 and told me that our son had vomited profusely and was screaming, so I told him to call an ambulance and rushed home. When i got there 15 minutes later there was a paramedic and an amublance crew who said he seemed fine (which he did, he was his usual bubbly self) and that we had to go to A&E for precautionary measures. we were there for 3 hours and they concluded that he did not have concussion and there was no reason why we couldnt take him home. it was hard for us because we said it happened at nursery and they dont know what happened. I was scared that we would be accused of something.
The next day at nursery the manager told me she would start an investigation and that he was ok to still attend. I kept asking for information on this investigation and after a week was told that she couldnt tell me what had happened but two staff members had been disciplined and couldnt tell me who due to staff confidentality.
prior to this i had complained that on a trip the staff inteded to give him a sausage roll from Greggs, but he had been asleep at the time. I told the assistant manager that I didnt want him to eat anything like that, and I also didnt want him to eat chocolate or cookies but was ok with him having an occassional small amount of cake if the other children were.
yesterday a girl was in the shop were i work and came over and told me that she had completed her nvq level 2 there but had left due to the way they treated the children. she then proceeded to tell me a long list of incidents saying that some nursery staff had given him chocolate and strawberry ice cream sauce from a squeezy bottle after i had specifically stated i didnt want him to eat anything like that, that she had overheard some staff badmouthing me saying that i was too clingly with him, that the girls do not look after the children properly and just sat chatting leaving the babies to their own devices and that she had seen him fall on a number of occasions and the girls had just picked him up and put him back down to crawl. most upsettingly she said that one time he wouldnt go to sleep and a nursery worker pushed him back down onto the cushion and told him to go to sleep, and carried on doing so until he went to sleep. he came home on tuesday with a bruise on his forehead which the girl claimed he had fallen forward when trying to walk.

I want him to leave and have already arranged a childminder for him, however as tommorow is a bank holiday they are shut so I cant go down and have it out with them. i work on tuesdays which is the first day of the week he goes, so i will probably have to wangle some time off that morning to discuss with them.
When i signed up for the nursery i was told if i removed him i would have to pay 4 weeks fees and give 4 weeks notice, i signed the contract but was not given a copy.

i recieve tax credits towards his fees which is paid on thursdays, so i have already recieved the payment for next weeks fees. i intend to give this to the childminder but my main questions are

1) i am now intending on purseing a negligence claim against them. i did not take photos of his bump but obviously the hospital have a record of our attendance and the nursery have records of the disipliniary and accident.
am i likely to succeed in a claim against them?

2) can i take him straight out and refuse to pay the 4 weeks fees?
I am aware that i am in breach of contract, but is the fact that they have been negligent in turn a breach of contract for them?

I didnt want to put my son in a nursery because I was worried that he wouldnt be looked after properly and spent a long time choosing this nursery, i trusted them and now feel like a terrible mother for putting him in there. advice is greatly received, thanks for reading i know its a long post

frivolous_fay

I could be wrong, but I'm not sure how far a negligence claim would get if there has been no serious injury. I would insist on a full explanation of what happened though. If two people have been disciplined, then clearly someone failed in their duties, and you have a right to know what happened, at least.

Flipped27

I would definitely take him out and refuse to pay any fees. I am also amazed that they "can't tell you what happened due to staff confidentiality" If I were you I would be on the phone to Ofsted making a complaint asap on Tuesday. I would be very surprised if they chased you for fees after all this. I wouldn't be afraid to quote what you had been told by the girl either (although you don't need to name names....)

I hope your baby is ok and I am sure they will be so much better off with a childminder.

I would take it as far as you feel you can, I hate it when childcare is like this, its hard enough going back to work

Best of luck

silvercar

Your priority is his wellbeing, so move him to the childminder if you are not happy with the nursery care. Worrying about the fees is a secondary issue.

can i take him straight out and refuse to pay the 4 weeks fees?
I am aware that i am in breach of contract, but is the fact that they have been negligent in turn a breach of contract for them?

You can certainly take him straight out. If you refuse to pay the fees they can take you to court. They may decide that the potential negligence case may make it unwise to do so.

surreysaver

marywooyeah wrote: »

The next day at nursery the manager told me she would start an investigation and that he was ok to still attend. I kept asking for information on this investigation and after a week was told that she couldnt tell me what had happened but two staff members had been disciplined and couldnt tell me who due to staff confidentality.

For the staff to be disciplined, they must know what happened to your child. You can request any information they hold on your child under the Data Protection Act.

surreysaver

marywooyeah wrote: »

it was hard for us because we said it happened at nursery and they dont know what happened. I was scared that we would be accused of something.

Don't blame you. Hospital staff are too scared to use common sense in case they miss the one child that slips through the net.

Sparky09

I have to say this all sounds a bit blown out of proportion. A negligence claim for a child falling over! Put yourself in the nursery staffs postition. Maybe there wasn't much they could tell you because...there was nothing to say! Children fall over! As for this ex staff member whose obviously got a grudge by revealing all...could she not just have an axe to grind? Not that anything she said was particularly shocking. As for the scenario with the child going asleep, babies are not exactly the best judges of when to switch off, even if they can barely keep their eyes open, and sometimes need a bit of persuasion?

At the end of the day, its a nursery, if you want perfect one on one time and eating conditions, you should hire a nanny! These staff are most likely on minimum wage and have a ratio of 5 kids to an adult, so fulfilling your list of do's and dont's probably always their number one priority. By all means move him, but don't pursue negligence claims!

geri1965_2

Sparky09 wrote: »

I have to say this all sounds a bit blown out of proportion. A negligence claim for a child falling over! Put yourself in the nursery staffs postition. Maybe there wasn't much they could tell you because...there was nothing to say! Children fall over!

So why were two members of staff disciplined then?

robpw2

you need to report this to ofsted at the first availiblle oppurtunity

loobylou2

I have 3 children all of whom have attended nurseries without any problems whatsoever and I think from what you are saying that you have a right to find out exactly what happened to your son, if something like that happened to one of my children whilst they were at nursery I'd be very concerned not just for my own child but for safety of the other children who also attend. Also if I were you I'd be contacting OFSTED and raising my concerns with them. Did you check the qualifications of the staff when you registered your son at the nursery and spend some time there with your son before you left him in their care?? Also how were they about you contacting them during the day to check that your son was ok?? I wouldn't have left any of my children at their nurseries if I hadn't felt confident that I was welcome to either call or pop in to the nursery at any time. Don't worry about the financial side of things too either because at the end of the day the important thing is that your son is being cared for in an environment where you are happy that he is safe and well looked after.

Krystaltips

I wouldn't just call ofsted, I would ring social services and discuss your concerns with them too.. They have the ability of investigating the nursery and the staff and if neccessary prosecuting people....