Watching your child grow into becoming a toddler should be a happy and exciting time for parents. However, there are difficult decisions to be made such as choosing the right nursery. Choosing the right nursery for your child can take time; parents want to feel comfortable that when they drop their child off that they will be cared for, looked after and waiting to be collected at the end of the day unharmed. Unfortunately, this did not happen for a family in Edinburgh. They received a telephone call that no parent wants to receive, advising that their child had been involved in an accident whilst in the care of his nursery.
Ryan, at the time, had been out on an Easter Hunt with Little Monkeys Nursery. The Easter Hunt was in the woods behind the nursery in Crammond, Edinburgh. Whilst Ryan was there, he fell on a metal spike and suffered a gaping neck wound, requiring surgery. The nursery refused to apologise for Ryan’s accident and denied that the injury had been caused by the spike. They claimed that the woodland area was not dangerous. 
Ryan’s parents turned to Thompsons specialist personal injury solicitors for advice. Our specialist solicitors carried out a full investigation and although both the Care Inspectorate and representatives of the City of Edinburgh Council agreed that the site was not dangerous, the court action raised against Little Monkeys Nursery succeeded.
As parents, we all know that ‘accidents’ can happen. However, in Ryan’s case, the accident could have been avoided. Thompsons argued that the woodland area was not appropriately risk assessed and, if it had been, hazards such as the metal fence post that Ryan injured himself on would have been removed. It was also pointed out that none of the nursery staff were positioned where they ought to have been in order to have a good view of the children to allow for appropriate monitoring. 
Would you allow your child to play here?
BBC News and the Daily Record both reported this successful case. Click the logos below to view the articles
There are a number of situations that can lead to accidents occurring within nurseries such as defective play equipment or furniture, children having unsupervised playtime/sporting activities, poorly maintained outdoor equipment or even food poisoning due to poor hygiene. If your child has been involved in an accident whilst at nursery or, of course, school, contact Thompsons and speak with one of our specialist solicitors for advice.
