teacher negligence on school trip causes DKA

[Jack's mum]

My 12 year old son has Type 1 and has recently come back from a school trip - a week at an outdoor centre. He is in denial about his diabetes, but does know what to do and when to do it - re -injections/carbs etc. To cut a long story short - the teacher in charge agreed that he would make sure Jack administered his insulin properly and tested his BG more regularly because of the extra activity. This did not happen and my son ended up in hospital with DKA. I had to drive a 500 mile round trip to be with him and bring him home. I have written a detailed letter to the school but as yet not had a response. I suspect I may have to threaten action but I'm not sure what route to take - any ideas/experience anyone?

 

[rspence]

so sorry for you and jack

hi - no experience to offer you - but others will be able to.
as a parent though my heart goes out to you for having this awful experience, please be kind to yourself as you overcome the shock emotion of such a bad thing. xx

 

[Ellie Jones]

It depends when you sent the letter don't forget we are right on top of the Easter Hols and another short week.. And the head would have to ask questions from the teachers involved etc before he can really make a reply!

You could next week phone and ask for a meeting with the head to discuss your letter...

As to taking legal action you would have to speak to a legal person on this, but would assume that to prove negligence there would need to be some written agreement concerning his care supervision while he was away.. But as I said you would have to speak to somebody with legal knowlege.

You could ask the school politely to cover the costs you inccurred to go to your son and fetch him home, and/or refund the cost of the holiday!

 

[Pumper_Sue]

My 12 year old son has Type 1 and has recently come back from a school trip - a week at an outdoor centre. He is in denial about his diabetes, but does know what to do and when to do it - re -injections/carbs etc. To cut a long story short - the teacher in charge agreed that he would make sure Jack administered his insulin properly and tested his BG more regularly because of the extra activity. This did not happen and my son ended up in hospital with DKA. I had to drive a 500 mile round trip to be with him and bring him home. I have written a detailed letter to the school but as yet not had a response. I suspect I may have to threaten action but I'm not sure what route to take - any ideas/experience anyone?

Hi Jack's mum.
Sorry to hear of the problems caused by Jack not taking his insulin.
It's a shame he has done this as I doubt he will ever be allowed on another school trip.
I think you also have to look into if Jack has decieved the teacher into believeing he had done his insulin etc as well. Kids can be very devious.
You also have to look into how much extra Jack ate without bolusing as well.
As you have stated he is in denial you have to look into all aspects of what went on.
I would suspect Jack wanted to be just like the other lads and lass's, unfortunatley the end result was not good.
Having diabetes as a teenager is very hard so perhaps not be to hard on him.

 

[bev]

Hi Jack's mum,

I would do an email to the Head, the SENCO, the LEA and the Board of Governors of the School. I would also copy in your team. If the School failed to follow the care plan - this is serious. You will need to ask for the School's version of events as to what actually happened and why your son ended up in this situation.

As for your son not being able to go on another holiday with School - that should not happen. Just because your son was ill - it shouldn't then set a precedent never to take him again - it just means that lessons should be learnt and the correct protocol put in place for future to keep him safe. Using a child's disability as a reason not to include them is discriminatory.🙂Bev

 

[Catwoman76]

My 12 year old son has Type 1 and has recently come back from a school trip - a week at an outdoor centre. He is in denial about his diabetes, but does know what to do and when to do it - re -injections/carbs etc. To cut a long story short - the teacher in charge agreed that he would make sure Jack administered his insulin properly and tested his BG more regularly because of the extra activity. This did not happen and my son ended up in hospital with DKA. I had to drive a 500 mile round trip to be with him and bring him home. I have written a detailed letter to the school but as yet not had a response. I suspect I may have to threaten action but I'm not sure what route to take - any ideas/experience anyone?

Jacks mum, sorry to hear of Jack's illness, you must of been quite scared and worried. As you have already written a letter,( sorry, don't know when) and not had a response, I would write again, giving them the date of the letter and a small piece about the content.
I feel the School should of acknowledged your letter, either by them writing, emailing or by telephone.

A 12yr old boy must take on board any medical condition they have and be responsible. But, he is a 12 year old and hormones are raging all over the place and he doesn't want the stupid Diabetes and wants to be 'normal' like his friends and peers.
If it was me, I would jot down all corespondence from you and from the school,when you get some. His illness could of been, god forbid, alot worse and the school should acknowlege the seriousness of what happened.
I don't drive, so what on earth would I have done in your shoes, I couldn't afford a train ticket! Best wishes to you both, I hope you get something sorted out soon. Sheena

 

[Estellaa]

admittedly i know that until i was about 12 and knew how to control my diabetes properly my mum wouldn't let me go stay round other peoples unless they knew about the condition and knew what to do.
she doesn't like me to go out now, but she has to get use to that.
the fact they neglected what you had said is appalling and i think you should go to the school about it.
perhaps, you should make sure your son understands the seriousness of the condition and he has to understand that if he wants to go places or stay over at peoples then he has to make sure he is looking after himself properly or he could DKA again?
hope he is okay now and you get it sorted!

 

[Gemma444]

Hi Jacks mum

how awful for you. What does it say in your sons care plan. Maybe its worth geting the care plan looked at and changed for the next trip. I know your son is 12 and at high school but still he is still a child and the teachers should be checking these things, seeing how he was under their care for the day. Say I was looking after another child who had D at your sons age I would still be making sure he was doing tests and insulin if not I would of called you. My son is almost 10 and he still needs reminding to do all tests etc.

Hope you work this out with the school and your son does not get stopped from going onto anymore trips.

Gem x

 

[Adrienne]

Hiya Jack's mum

Is Jack ok now? Are you ok now? I know something as frightening as DKA or indeed at the other end of the scale, the seizures from hypos are terrifying for parents to witness and like you, hear about, and it stays with us for a long long long time. People with diabetes themselves (not saying this in a derogatory way by the way, just saying how it is for us parents) do not necessarily know how a mum (or dad) feels about this and the emotions and impact it has on life.

When Jessica had her big seizure and she's had a few, it was 2008 and it took a long time to forget the feelings. I am still terrified each morning incase she is not with us anymore. This bloody disease has a lot to answer for, it really does.

So back to Jack. I guess the main questions are what was put in place before he went. I know you say the teacher agreed to make sure he did his insulin but was there a detailed care plan and did you have meetings with the school about how this should be dealt with etc etc. The usual questions.

It could only be negligence if they didn't follow instructions which were agreed beforehand between you and them. This is really hard and if you want to go down the legal route you will need to get legal advice and this is specialist stuff. Maybe you could look at the Douglas Silas website. He is a lawyer who does discrimination stuff under the DDA so may be able to help.

I hope you are ok and that Jack is recovered. Is he back at school? Is the care plan there a full and proper care plan? If not, then I would start with that and get it sorted and get into school to go through things.

It doesn't matter a jot whether he is 12 or 15 or even 8, he is a child under their care and somehow this was failed. I can never remember the latin but it is something like locus parentis or similar which means they are the parents at the location or in place instead of you and should look after him.

I just wish all this was flipping law, it is a to a certain extent but not enough.

Good luck. 🙂

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I find it interesting reading all the responses but some have got me wondering.

If your child went DKA, does it entitle the child to sue you for not caring for them?

 

[Adrienne]

I find it interesting reading all the responses but some have got me wondering.

If your child went DKA, does it entitle the child to sue you for not caring for them?

Haha no I don't think so if the care was what was agreed. If the care plan agreed was not adhered to and the adult who was supposed to be following it did not follow it and there was a consequence then there is a problem.

If people just sued willy nilly even if care plans were followed there would be a huge problem for children with diabetes in schools all over the UK. There were need to be proper grounds for legal proceedings not just because you feel like it. So it all depends what was set up beforehand and if they were thorough plans and all agreed by all parties.

That is what most parents would make sure was in place. If the staff didn't follow it then there is a problem. I guess the proof and evidence would be the memory in the blood glucometer etc.

Hard one, very hard.

 

[Adrienne]

Oh hold on, do you mean the actual child sue the parent or carer at the time?

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Oh hold on, do you mean the actual child sue the parent or carer at the time?

I not to good at wording things how I mean sorry
Lets try again... If your child has diabetes and went DKA at home or whilst in your care, can they sue you as the parent for allowing it to happen? Perhaps said child had guzzled a full fat coke whilst with friends so didn't look out of place, parent didn't know but DKA followed... Who's to blame? Where does the buck stop?

I see so many posts from parents saying their child has gone DKA or hospitalized due to low blood sugars

 

[Adrienne]

Ah right I see. I think any sane child, if they knew their parents did their best would not be suing them ! However there are many negligent parents out there, believe me, you only had to watch that programme that covered the hospital in Croydon to see a small portion of bad parenting and that was only one place.

I have a couple of friends whose children are more prone to ketones than any other children I know. I know the parents of both children and they are fully switched on and it was out of their hands.

Jessica should have been hospitalized after her big seizure and me using the glucagon but I didn't phone them as they are a rubbish hospital and I had it under control and she was a bridesmaid the next day. I am in control but we all know what diabetes is and what it does and that seizure was out of my control. When I found her, I controlled it.

It is all just a nightmare.

 

[Adrienne]

Sorry Jack's mum, totally off on a tangent there and of course none of that applies to you, it was all just hyperthetical.

x

 

[Millies Mum]

School Trip DKA

Hi,

I have a 13 year old daughter with Type 1 Diabetes, she was diagnosed aged 5. I'm sorry this happened to you. Something similar happened to us and I was talking to our DSN about it. She suggested that she could go into school and give a talk to all the staff about diabetes and distribute some literature about diabetes for them to refer to. She arranged this with the school and we have had no problems since. Hope this helps.

 

[Ruth Goode]

This is all parents' nightmare/fear! Im sorry its happened to you. like others said we all need a care plan to ensure they do it in best way for our children's sakes

 

[lizabetic]

I find it awful that this has happened! Even if your son was going through a bad phase you let them know and they should have stepped in, if a child had athsma or a more obvious problem they would make sure they had their pump with them (my primary school did)!! I think claiming the money to go get him or refund of the whole entire trip should be the least you deserve!!!!

I am so glad I was diagnosed at the end of my school life!

In fact just before I was diagnosed I went on a school trip to france for a week, i'm coeliac and the school knew about my situation. I was barely eating the whole week, when people got a roll for starters...I got nothing. If something was on my plate I couldn't eat/even the whole thing I would say and it would get taken away.

Fortuantly I have a lovely mum who had always packed me food so I could go and eat a ton of biscuits back in my room when I was hungry (not great as my bs were clearly out of whack then). I remember being incredibly moody the whole week too.

Spose I should have sued the school claiming it triggered my diabetes 😛
Just another example of poor care on school trips when it comes to special needs etc!

 

[jon47]

Jack's Mum, what happened to Jack sounds very much like negligence. Try and find someone who's outside the immediate situation who can give you help and support - a level-headed friend for example - but I think you're going to need professional support with this.

If there's anyone else reading this thread in the future who happens to be in Wiltshire, then there's an organisation called ASK (http://www.askwiltshire.org/) which provides support for parents. Jack's Mum, if you were in Wiltshire I'd point you in their direction. It might be worth giving them a call anyway and see if they can refer you to a similar organisation in your area.

Another place you could go that might be able to help and refer you on would be the Equality and Human Rights Commission (http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/) - this might seem a bit heavyweight, but diabetes is covered under the Equality Act which came into force last October.

The school, by law, cannot discriminate against people with disabilities, and legally diabetes is a disability. The law changed last year (Equality Act came into force on 1st October 2010) Schools (any service provider in fact) are required by law to provide the same opportunities to disabled kids as to any other. They *cannot* legally deny your son the chance to go on trips again.

Cheers
Jon

 

[bev]

Jack's Mum, what happened to Jack sounds very much like negligence. Try and find someone who's outside the immediate situation who can give you help and support - a level-headed friend for example - but I think you're going to need professional support with this.

If there's anyone else reading this thread in the future who happens to be in Wiltshire, then there's an organisation called ASK (http://www.askwiltshire.org/) which provides support for parents. Jack's Mum, if you were in Wiltshire I'd point you in their direction. It might be worth giving them a call anyway and see if they can refer you to a similar organisation in your area.

Another place you could go that might be able to help and refer you on would be the Equality and Human Rights Commission (http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/) - this might seem a bit heavyweight, but diabetes is covered under the Equality Act which came into force last October.

The school, by law, cannot discriminate against people with disabilities, and legally diabetes is a disability. The law changed last year (Equality Act came into force on 1st October 2010) Schools (any service provider in fact) are required by law to provide the same opportunities to disabled kids as to any other. They *cannot* legally deny your son the chance to go on trips again.

Cheers
Jon

Hi Jon,

Thats interesting - thanks for the link. If a School refuses to let anyone be trained in the use of Glucagon - is this acceptable - even though the clinical team advise it - but the School Nurse isnt keen.🙂Bev