CCTV footage showed baby’s childcare injury at Edge Early Learning Centre Plympton
A baby's concussion at a troubled childcare centre has sparked fresh controversy and left his parents horrified after they demanded to see CCTV footage of the incident.
The parents of a baby who suffered a concussion and blood nose after he was injured while being held by a childcare worker say they were not given the full details about how it happened and are upset that staff did not call an ambulance.
The boy’s mother told The Advertiser they only learned the full extent of the incident days later, after she pushed to see CCTV footage.
It is the latest in a series of concerns raised about the Edge Early Learning centre at Plympton, which was forced into a temporary closure earlier this week by the childcare regulator.
The mother, who did not want to be identified, said her 11-month-old son was injured on February 20 after he “fell headfirst onto the floor” while being held by an educator.
She said a staff member who phoned to tell the family about the incident said both the boy and the educator “hit the floor together and the educator had attempted to roll under (the boy) to cushion his fall”.
A GP later diagnosed the boy with concussion, the mother said, and he sustained “facial swelling, bruising, (a) blood nose and bruised gum”.
The mother said the staff “version of events didn’t match the severity of his injuries” which prompted her to ask to see CCTV footage of the incident.
“What we saw was horrifying,” she said.
“It clearly showed what happened.
“The educator held our child over their arm … and tripped on a block on the floor.
“He (the baby) took full impact onto his face. There was no cushioning.”
The mother said staff did not call an ambulance after the fall “which still makes me sick to think about, given how serious it was”.
Responding to inquiries by The Advertiser, Edge Early Learning chief executive officer Annie Bryce said the accident “occurred when an educator rolled her ankle while holding a child, causing them both to fall”.
It was reported to the Education Standards Board, which investigated, and the company “addressed it internally by supporting the educator involved through performance management,” Ms Bryce said.
“We recognise the concern this situation caused and remain fully committed to the highest standard of care and safety for all children in our centres,” she said.
Ms Bryce said the granting of the mother’s request to view the surveillance vision was “a rare and carefully managed exception to our usual policy of not sharing CCTV, as footage typically involves other children whose privacy must be protected”.
The mother said her initial request to see the CCTV was denied so she contacted a more senior staff member from the company, who arranged a meeting to view the footage on February 24.
However, the mother said she was only shown screen shots so she went back to the company who scheduled a meeting for February 25, when the footage was played.
“We feel like the incident was … not taken as seriously as it should’ve been, and now seeing other cases come out of the same centre makes it even worse,” she said.
More Coverage
Originally published as CCTV footage showed baby’s childcare injury at Edge Early Learning Centre Plympton
