Tops Day Nursery based in Poole has recently come under media fire after a parent approached the Bournemouth Echo accusing Tops of allowing their child to burn their toes on hot tarmac in the garden.
This is categorically denied by Tops Day Nurseries as they don’t have tarmac in their garden and the blister marks on the child’s toes are inconsistent with what the parent is claiming. The parent originally made a complaint to the nursery demanding compensation and free childcare, when this was declined and an investigation started, the parent then approached the press. The day before the article was published the parent posted on her Facebook Page, “Exciting times ahead!!” followed with “Mia’s made front page!!” and attached links to the newspaper article when it was published.
A full investigation took place following the complaint with support and guidance from the local authority. The investigation concluded that there were no concerns with the practice of care or with the first aid administered and there is no evidence to suggest the blisters were caused at nursery. After the outcome of the investigation was shared with the parent, they demanded a month’s free childcare fees and a further 10% off for the next three months, which the nursery declined as there was no fault found in the investigation and therefore, the nursey didn’t think it was just. The child continued to attend 4 full day sessions at the nursery until Friday 6th July, when the article was published by the Echo with inaccurate information about the nursery environment and care provided to children.
Cheryl Hadland, Managing Director at Tops Day Nurseries commented “We were shocked and appalled to see the article. We understand the parent was emotional and unhappy with the investigation we carried out, and the lack of compensation, but it is a shame in this case the parent felt the need to go to the press rather than look at the facts.
Following the release of the article, a face to face meeting has been booked with the parent to discuss our investigations even further. However, after the parent made an abusive phone call to the Poole nursery manager this morning, asking where her refund is and threatening physical violence, I will be attending this meeting with an additional person present.
We would like to reassure parents that no child was burnt while attending Tops Day Nurseries, and we have policies, procedures and risk assessments in place to prevent hazards to children in our nurseries.”
On Wednesday 27th June staff members discovered blisters on a child’s big toes when helping them get dressed, following playing in the outdoor paddling pool. Upon the discovery, Tops staff followed procedure, cleaned the affected areas and placed plasters over the blisters to aid any discomfort. The child did not complain of any pain, show signs of distress, or appear to realise they were there. The parent was notified via a parent communication application and had a verbal handover of the discovery upon collection. All staff within the Tops Day Nurseries family are Paediatric First Aid Trained within the first 3 months of joining Tops, and take part in regular training updates.
A complaint by the parent was raised the following day claiming that her child had been burnt whilst bare foot in the garden. A full investigation took place following the complaint with support and guidance from the local authority. The investigation concluded that there were no concerns with the practice of care or with the first aid administered. There is no evidence to suggest the blisters were caused at nursery. Until the point when the child got undressed to go into the paddling pool the child was wearing shoes all day, which could have concealed the blisters already being present. No other children participating in the garden activities suffered any injuries, and there are no tarmac areas in the nursery garden. Tops Day Nurseries have not been supplied with the outcome of the child’s visit to A&E, therefore, this could not be included in the investigation. However, Juliet Guiness RN, a Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital trained Paediatric Nurse commented “The pictures show burns/blisters to both big toes, which is not consistent with walking on a hot surface, she would have damage to the entire surface and all toes if that was the case.”
The Tops Day Nurseries legal team are working with the press to resolve all mis-representation of Tops Day Nurseries.