Parent ‘raised concerns’ before death of baby who choked on fruit at Edinburgh nursery

A parent had raised concerns with Scotland’s care watchdog that staff at a nursery where a baby died after choking had been inattentive while children were being fed.

Fox Goulding, aged ten months, became seriously ill after choking on a piece of mango at Bright Horizons Nursery in Corstorphine, Edinburgh.

Fox was rushed to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the city but died the next day.

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It has emerged that the Care Inspectorate admitted that an earlier complaint by a parent about a separate incident a few months earlier “should have been investigated by us”.

In a letter seen by The Times it emerged a parent had raised concerns about the nursery with the Care Inspectorate in September.

In it she cited “staff not being attentive and feeding children in the baby room, instead sitting next to children and larking around with other staff members”.

She had also raised concerns about the number of incidents her son was involved in at the facility.

The woman said she had met with managers to discuss her complaints.

After initially telling the woman that the warnings would be held as “future intelligence”, the Care Inspectorate later replied that there were “elements of your complaint that should have been investigated by us”.

It is understood the nursery acted on the complaint made to the Care Inspectorate.

When the care watchdog visited the nursery in March it was rated as “adequate” in all areas, awarding it a grade of three on a scale to six.

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According to the inspectorate’s website this means its “strengths just outweigh its weaknesses”.

The report stated that mealtimes were generally positive for the youngsters, who were allowed to select their food and pour drinks.

“Most staff sat with children at mealtimes, meaning they were supported to socialise and develop communication skills during this time.

“As part of the service’s quality assurance they should continue to monitor these times to ensure all children consistently have positive and nurturing experiences.”

However, no formal recommendation was made about the mealtimes.

The two recommendations made in the document’s quality of care section were that records of children’s progress should be updated “meaningfully” and the management of medication should be reviewed after two bottles of paracetamol for children were “stored incorrectly” with “no record of why the medication was needed.”

Police Scotland are treating Fox’s death as unexplained but not suspicious.