Pre-existing injury record

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• This little record does a big safeguarding job. Children arrive with bumps and bruises all the time — that's childhood. Recording an injury that happened elsewhere, at the moment you notice it, means it's never later mistaken for something that happened in your care, and it builds a picture if a genuine concern ever emerges.
• Ask, and record what you're told — without accusing. Note the injury and the parent's explanation, factually. Most of the time it's a trampoline or a doorframe. Your job is to record, not to interrogate.
• But stay alert to the ones that don't add up. An explanation that doesn't fit the injury, bruising in unusual places (especially on a baby who isn't yet mobile), a pattern, or a reluctant parent — any of these should make you think safeguarding and tell the DSL. The point of recording is partly to spot the pattern you'd otherwise miss.
• Babies who aren't mobile shouldn't really bruise. Unexplained marks on a non-independently-mobile baby are a recognised red flag — take these especially seriously.
• It pairs with your accident record and safeguarding policy. Pre-existing injuries (from home) and accidents (in your care) are two sides of the same coin; keep both, and both feed your safeguarding awareness.
• Sensitive data — keep it secure. Confidential records about a child; store safely, share only as needed.
• Professionally structured starting point — adapt and sign off. England-led (EYFS/Ofsted); Wales/Scotland/NI have their own frameworks. A manager/DSL should tailor and sign this off; it's not "compliant out of the box".