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Missed insulin by primary school staff.

M

MattiesMum

Member
Hello.I had an awful incident happen to my 7 yr old son Matthew on Friday at school and I am still feeling upset and disappointed .
The teaching assistant who is my son's main caregiver at school(and has been since reception) completely forgot to give my son his lunch-time insulin dose and only remembered when my childminder realised at 3.30 when she was picking him up from school.
My childminder was rightly shocked and angry that this could've been forgotten about and the teaching assistant's reaction was to say to my son..'Oh Matthew,you forgot to come and find me!' like it was all his fault!!...and when I asked him about it later he said he did try to find someone and couldn't find either this TA or the other TA who occasionally does the insulin doses.
Then when my childminder suggested that they should test my son's blood sugar to see how it was the TA acted like it was too much trouble but with an 'oh if we must' attitude she went off to get my son's testing meter. His school meter gave a reading of HIGH and when my childminder got home she tested with her meter and his blood sugar was 28.3 !
I've been angry that something so important could be forgotten and even more by the reaction of the TA who I thought genuinely cared for my son as they have always had quite a nice relationship together.
The headteacher and the deputy head happened to be around when all this was happening and have been very good.
I talked to them both this morning,they had a meeting this afternoon about it and the deputy head called me to tell me what steps they had taken to prevent this happening again one of which that this TA will no longer be looking after his insulin doses.
I haven't seen this lady yet but it is just a matter of time and I don't know what I will say to her at the mo. Matthew told me that she got told off for it. she told him this herself .I asked did she apologise to you . Matthew looked a bit surprised and said No. :O(
 
I'm a teacher with type 1 and know how busy teachers and TA's can be everyday and that everyone makes mistakes. However, when a child's health is in question I cannot think of anything that would take precedence over ensuring that child was given his life-saving medicine. I find the "you didn't come and find me" excuse a feeble one as surely this is part of the TAs daily routine? I know that some might say your son should have taken more responsibility but in my opinion he is only 7 and the TA has failed in their duty of care towards your son. I have been responsible for giving children daily medicine which they have to take at exactly the same time each day otherwise they would fall ill extremely quickly and as a back-up I would set an alarm to remind me. I hope your son didn't feel too unwell with sugars that high and that the school remain supportive. All the best.

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hi I know this thread is a few months old now, I have been having issues with my sons ta also, when he has a hypo at lunch they treat hypo then he eats before insulin (she always calls me to check after being his ta for 2 years this is simple diabetic training procedure) and he needs to go and find her resulting in insulin being missed in the past, she blames him for wasting her lunch hour and ate lunch in front of him while he was waiting for his hypo treatment to work, she mostly has a big attitude problem when she is actually in school and upsets him most days, when she isn't there the school does not have the appropriate cover he requires. he has a statement as he has learning difficulties and t1. I have done nothing but had several basic diabetic training as she keeps getting simple procedures wrong and still not getting it, we have also had meeting with the school in relation to her behaviour, nothing has seemed to work and I don't know what else to do I am literally at the end of my tether does anyone have advice for me? I hope things are now sorted for your son as it seems like you have a fantastic school supporting you, I wish yourself and your son luck for the future kind regards x
 

I think you should consider legal action she is putting his life in danger, if anything it would definitely get the school to fire her and find a suitable replacement quickly. Also maybe contact your local MP they are usually quite good with this sort of thing and having someone that powerful on your side will definitely help.
 
Is it possible to change schools? If not, is there an agency you can contact that can tell the school they must provide someone better for him? In NZ the Ministry of Education can intervene if a school is not providing a safe environment for a child. Every school has to do this by law, but often there are problems like the one you're having. Some parents take their child out of school and home school them, which is often not ideal for parent or child, but at least they are medically safe, and they aren't subject to emotional abuse.
 
It sounds as if it's the school's management that's at fault. The TA should be able to have her lunch but any child who needs assistance should be able to get what they need.

If no provision is made for the TA to make up her lunch break when your son needs her help, she perhaps can do nothing else but eat lunch in front of him.

If the school won't make proper provision for your son, you should contact the council's education department and let them know of the situation.
 

I'd put your concerns in writing to the school and send a copy to your local education authority. It's not acceptable that they employ someone who isn't able to give your son the care he needs. IF you really feel the TA is the wrong person to look after your son, then say so - in writing. if she's getting simple procedures wrong, that's very worrying.
 
Personally I would start with the Governing body for the school - you can find information on how to contact and who to contact on your schools website or ask the school's receptionist. If you go to the local education authority it could take a while to get the right response - by contacting the Governing body and raising it as an 'urgent' they should respond very quickly.

Write all your concerns in the letter - start by advising that this is a complaint, raising their attention to the fact that they have as quoted above a 'duty to care' for your son and he is being let down badly and go on to say this is a life threatening condition if not managed correctly. Within your letter state the steps that need to be taken to manage his condition and explain all the failings. Deliver this letter to the school administrator or head teacher by hand and mark this as urgent, also check your schools website for their complaints procedure as this will tell you the response time it should take to hear back.

I am sure once the school have a complaint in full from you they will investigate fully, if their response is not acceptable then contact the local education authority. I am a Governor at our local school and this is the procedure for any complaints through our school. If we had a complaint of this severity we would launch an investigation and it would be looked into with a follow up meeting with the head teacher and parent to look at an agreed outcome.
 
Hi i totally agree yes she should have lunch my point is, it only took 15 minutes of her time for his hypo treatment to work, could she not wait to eat? With the other 45 minutes she had? To tell a child "he's wasting her lunch hour" because he's having a hypo which is not his fault is unfair. I have written in to school several time and had numerous meetings I have now drafted letters to the chair of governors and my mp and local councillor. Many thanks xx
 
Thank you all for your advice, I have drafted letters to go to chair of the school governor, my mp and our local councillor. I have had various meetings with the head acting head with our diabetic nurse numerous times after writing into the school, after there has been little change if anything things have got progressively worse I have no alternative to take further action. Last Wednesday he was at school his ta was absent, i was called as another ta was with him just to do his blood checks (he has a full time statement) to say he was high, I went in to solve why his sugars (change insulin and give injection if needed)his sugars were high but asked if she was with him all day to keep an eye on him. After finding out she was taking him out of class just to check his bloods and couldn't keep an eye on him I took him home and changed his insulin and gave injection which he needed. I later found out he was with an untrained teacher reading said he needed a drink of water n she refused him which wouldn't have helped his rising sugars either, he ended out in hospital that afternoon with keytones at 2.2. I'm sure you can understand my frustration, many thanks for your advice again kind regards n x
 
Hi unfortunately it would not be a great idea to change school but I'm hoping my next port of call may actually get things sorted (I'm hoping) after all the advice after posting this I'm going higher than the head. Many thanks xx
 
Again this is due to poor management of the school. All staff who are likely to deal with your son should be made aware of his diabetic needs. If this "untrained teacher" new nothing of these needs, she perhaps did this as she was following other instructions e.g. not allowing pupils to go to toilet just after interval.

I wish you the best of luck in improving the situation in the school as this will not only help your son but also future pupils.
 
Thank you so much x
 
nic16 said:
Hi unfortunately it would not be a great idea to change school but I'm hoping my next port of call may actually get things sorted (I'm hoping) after all the advice after posting this I'm going higher than the head. Many thanks xx
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There's an old saying 'If you want the clearest water go to the head of the fountain' Take it right the very top who is ever in overall charge of education in you area involve the local papers local TV and radio or anything that will embarrass them into some real action
 
I know it is a slightly different situation but schools all have inset days for staff training. My local school where my children went had a diabetic child- I know because I was a diabetic parent and was suitable supported by the teachers when I went hypo and borrowed this childs glucose- it was the end of the day and replaced by 3 people. Anyway, the teacher asked for my advice about the best place to get staff training on diabetes as I do that as part of my job. When they had an inset day the diabetic nurse went in for 1 hour of their day and taught all the staff at the same time. At 7 maybe your child should be carrying their own blood test kit and doing it when they feel they need to. (i do not know your child and someone above mentioned a learning disability so this may not be appropriate however it should be accessible) They should not be making him walk out of class if blood sugar is low. Any staff should then be able to support if blood sugar is low.
I would push for them to have appropriate training and for your son not to be hidden away like a dirty secret. it is a good opportunity for the others in the class to be educated.
good luck. I would go to the board of governors but copy in the head teacher. You can always go the education board if not happy.
 
although my son isn't diabetic he did have medical issues, I went with his doctor to the director of education at the local authority, after a bit of huffing and puffing, I told her I would hold her personally responsible if anything happened to my son, amazingly it all got sorted out. Sometimes youv'e got to be pushy to get what you want.
I remember the headmaster saying to me he had 25 children with medical issues to look after, I told him I was only interested in one and if the other 24 parents had concerns then they should be doing what I was.
 
Hello, I am a TA myself and I work with a diabetic child, I am not paid anything extra for all the responsibility I have taken on and I have been trained up as much as possible, it can still be very stressful and scary but all I can do is do what I feel is best for the child.

The TA should not have made that mistake and I can see why you would be cross, perhaps the school needs to ensure there is more trained people in place. I have the same problem at dinner time I am the main carer and very often I don't have a lunch break due to my duty of care.

I do feel for the TA as I know how hard it can be to fulfil all the roles of a teaching assistant as well as being the main care giver of a individual child. I think the school need to put more in place to ensure that Mathew can have his needs met.
Thank you for taking the time to read what I had to say and I hope this helps.
 
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