The School Nurse, the GP, and the Scary Letter.

moomoomama27

meer53 wrote: »

Why would you worry so much about a letter from a school nurse ? I know my children, i don't need a school nurse to tell me if there's something wrong. It's really not something to get worked up about is it ?

Actually a HUGE % of issues are found in these screening tests. The amount of children who have needed glasses or additional hearing checks is amazing!

One year we had 15 referrals for eyes/hearing in one class of 26!

peachyprice

moomoomama27 wrote: »

Actually a HUGE % of issues are found in these screening tests. The amount of children who have needed glasses or additional hearing checks is amazing!

One year we had 15 referrals for eyes/hearing in one class of 26!

But neither of those would fall into the 'something seriously wrong' category that OP was getting worked up about.

As sight/hearing/weight is primarily what school nurses check for why would anyone assume they'd found anything seriously wrong?

Jagraf

peachyprice wrote: »

But neither of those would fall into the 'something seriously wrong' category that OP was getting worked up about.

As sight/hearing/weight is primarily what school nurses check for why would anyone assume they'd found anything seriously wrong?

From what I can tell the letter is meant to alarm parents so that they will act on it, depends on your personality I suppose but I would feel worried too.

JimmyTheWig

Whether communication needs to br improved depends on how often we get to the stage that the OP got to. There is always a chance that 10 letters, emails phone calls, etc get lost, so there is always a chance that someone will end up being refered back to the GP.

My problem with the letter in the OP is that it suggests that there is something serious going on. My first reaction on reading it was that the school nurse had found or heard something so serious that (a) they couldn't talk to the parents directly and (b) it couldn't even be mentioned in a letter.
But that wasn't the case. It was just a paperwork mix-up.
Why couldn't the letter have said "[Child's doctor] would like to speak to you regarding recent correspondence we have received from the School Nurse about a form sent out to you that wasn't returned." In which case the parent would know that it is nothing to worry about but just something that needs sorting.

moomoomama27

I don't think the letter was particularly alarming, it was just bad luck it arrived at the weekend.

The letter would gave been a big standard template no doubt.

Things to remember about school nurses and medical checks.
1. They are normally conducted by the NHS, schools just have to comply rather than be involved.
2. There are normally reminders sent through class teachers or texts before the GP is involved, but as it's not the schools responsibility this would vary.
3. A referral could indicate other concerns that a nurse has or because of being non compliant they may not be sure the childs health is being prioritised.

Rather than blaming the system, if 'pupil post' is not working, then it would be time to suggest recommendations to the school about future communication.

Most schools have several communication channels open, and many yes emails, texts, phone alls as well as the letters.

Jagraf

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Whether communication needs to br improved depends on how often we get to the stage that the OP got to. There is always a chance that 10 letters, emails phone calls, etc get lost, so there is always a chance that someone will end up being refered back to the GP.

My problem with the letter in the OP is that it suggests that there is something serious going on. My first reaction on reading it was that the school nurse had found or heard something so serious that (a) they couldn't talk to the parents directly and (b) it couldn't even be mentioned in a letter.
But that wasn't the case. It was just a paperwork mix-up.
Why couldn't the letter have said "[Child's doctor] would like to speak to you regarding recent correspondence we have received from the School Nurse about a form sent out to you that wasn't returned." In which case the parent would know that it is nothing to worry about but just something that needs sorting.

Because the primary purpose of the authorities is that they have done their duty, I doubt they are the bothered otherwise.

FBaby

Please contact the surgery to arrange a telephone consultation.

How can a reference to a telephone consultation be alarming? If it said 'you need to make an urgent appointment asap', fair enough, but a phone call?

Jagraf

FBaby wrote: »

How can a reference to a telephone consultation be alarming? If it said 'you need to make an urgent appointment asap', fair enough, but a phone call?

Because its open to interpretation. On purpose in my opinion.

gayleygoo

My children's primary school mentions in each newsletter that the child's homework folder is used as a method of communication between teacher and parent. Since a parent should be dealing with homework each night, it's hard to miss the letters and notes.

Just today my DS got a nurse's letter - well, he was supposed to, but it belonged to a different child so I assume there was a mix-up! With hundreds of children it is probably easy for the odd mistake to happen, forms to get misplaced, contact numbers not updated etc, so I'm not annoyed by it and it will get sorted out in the next few days.

Jagraf

gayleygoo wrote: »

My children's primary school mentions in each newsletter that the child's homework folder is used as a method of communication between teacher and parent. Since a parent should be dealing with homework each night, it's hard to miss the letters and notes.

Just today my DS got a nurse's letter - well, he was supposed to, but it belonged to a different child so I assume there was a mix-up! With hundreds of children it is probably easy for the odd mistake to happen, forms to get misplaced, contact numbers not updated etc, so I'm not annoyed by it and it will get sorted out in the next few days.

And there's another reason for not using children as post people, confidentiality.