‘Serious risk of harm’: Aberdeen nursery took 25 minutes to raise alarm after discovering toddler was missing

An Aberdeen nursery put a three-year-old at “serious risk of harm” after failing to notice he had gone missing, an investigation has found.

River Wood slipped out of Kingsford School Nursery unnoticed and was found wandering down Lang Stracht – where he was almost hit by a bus – on August 3.

His mother, Kayleigh Kilpatrick, only found out when a kind stranger – who had found the toddler on the busy road – was standing at her front door with him.

Now an investigation by the Care Inspectorate has revealed it took nursery staff at least 25 minutes to raise the alarm with the council and police after discovering River had gone.

By that point, the stranger had already taken him back to his mum.

A ‘profound impact’ on the family

Miss Kilpatrick – who previously said she didn’t know how she’d be able to trust anyone to look after River again – told The Press and Journal the incident has had a “profound impact” on the family.

She has Tourette’s Syndrome which she says has worsened since the incident along with her anxiety. She has been unable to return to her job as a support worker.

“I’m really struggling. My ticks and my anxiety, I’m on high alert all the time and I feel like something is going to happen to him constantly,” she said.

“If I can’t see him or I don’t know where he is I am instantly in floods of tears.”

She said she finds herself “in a panic” when at home on her own and has been living between her mum and sister’s houses with her two children – River and his younger sister Sienna who is two.

‘They’ve failed River’

Miss Kilpatrick and River’s dad, Peter Wood, have not put their son back to the nursery since August. They have tried getting him enrolled elsewhere, but have been told he will need to reapply.

Miss Kilpatrick said she was at her “wit’s end” and needs support, adding: “They’ve failed River and they’re still failing him.”

Following the incident, Aberdeen City Council launched an investigation but River’s parents felt this “wasn’t adequate” and approached the Care Inspectorate.

The Care Inspectorate report has upheld a their five complaints about Kingsford Nursery, and found River was at “serious risk of harm” the day he was able to leave unattended.

They were:

Complaint 1: River was at serious risk of harm when he left the premises unaccompanied on August 3

No evidence was found to contradict the finding that the three-year-old left the nursery alone as members of the public confirmed they had seen him.

There was a CCTV camera at the front of the building, but the investigation found not enough attention was paid to it. This, along with the fact there was “limited supervision” ultimately enabled him to walk out.

New door alarms have been fitted in the months since the incident, but the report said it still has concerns about security at the facility.

Complaint 2: Communication with River’s parents has been misleading and contradictory following the incident on August 3

No official notetaker was present at the initial meeting between River’s parents and a quality improvement officer following the incident. River’s dad took his own notes, which contradicted the subsequent information issued relating to timings.

The investigation report noted that the facility gave approximate timings for the day’s events, despite the fact CCTV footage and call logs could have confirmed them precisely.

It added: “River’s parents were concerned they were being misled when they were told a
member of staff carried out a perimeter check, they were not provided with
further information when asked.”

According to the report, River’s parents could have been provided with more accurate information as it was available.

Complaint 3: Staff caring for River on August 3 did not raise any concerns about him being missing in a timely manner, lengthening the period of time he was at risk of harm.

A timeline of the day’s events is as follows, the CCTV clock is said to have been three minutes fast:

4.27pm: River is seen on CCTV leaving the nursery.

4.40pm: Staff notice River is missing, though this cannot be confirmed.

Around 4.55pm: Staff member is seen leaving the premises by the garden gate and going in the direction River went.

Around 5.03pm: Staff member is seen returning to the nursery without River.

5.02pm: Call made to Aberdeen City Council.

5.06pm: Call made to police.

The Care Inspectorate’s report stated the delay in staff contacting police put River at an “increased risk of harm”. It did not, however, make a requirement for improvement due to ongoing investigations into staff actions.

Complaint 4: Staff caring for River on August 3 did not follow the service missing child policy and procedure.

Kingsford School Nursery does not have a missing child policy, but staff should be aware of the council’s.

The report said: “Staff did not follow missing child policy and procedures and had to call locality lead for advice, causing further delay to the safe return of River, at this time the service were unaware of River’s safe return to his parent.”

Despite an ongoing internal investigation into staff not following procedure, the Care Inspectorate has made a requirement that those working at the nursery must be aware of the correct missing child procedure.

Complaint 5: Staff did not contact River’s parents to advise them that River was missing from the service. 

River’s parents were not told he was missing until he had already been returned home, approximately 26 minutes after staff noticed he was gone.

Staff put this delay down to “being unable to access the database and panic”.

Regardless of this, the report says: “People using the service should be confident that they will be contacted in a timely manner in the event of an emergency.

“River’s parents were not timeously contacted and were the last people to be informed.”

Areas for improvement

Ongoing internal investigations into staff actions has prevented the Care Inspectorate from highlighting more than one area for improvement.

The one it did give says: “To support children’s wellbeing, learning and development, the provider should ensure staff access training appropriate to their role, and apply their training in practice. This should include, but not limited to, training in missing child policy and procedures.”

River’s dad, Mr Wood, said he remains “livid” at the handling of the incident.

He claimed River has displayed a fear of buses since the incident and gets “quite upset” when he sees them.

“They (the council) has never asked after him, they’ve never said ‘how is River?’” he said.

He feels the matter is being treated as “done and dusted” with the publication of the report, but does not feel the nursery has been held accountable.

He said: “They’re trying to sweep it under the carpet. If they didn’t try to do that and were being a bit more open and transparent – which they told us they would be – then I wouldn’t be so livid.”

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said: “We met with River’s parents following an investigation into this unfortunate incident to apologise and to discuss the measures we have undertaken at Kingsford School Nursery following a review of its security systems to help ensure there is no repetition.

“River’s parents have sought information on available early learning and childcare spaces in their chosen area and two settings have been identified.

“River’s parents were advised that, once they decide on the most appropriate setting, they require only to update the applications to be formally offered a place.”