One family has made it their mission to change the UK’s nurseries.
Their daughter Genevieve, known as Gigi, was nine months old when she died at a nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, in 2022.
A nursery worker was jailed for 14 years for manslaughter after CCTV showed she had wrapped Genevieve in a blanket and put her to sleep face down on a bean bag.
Her parents, John and Katie Meehan, were already campaigning for safer nurseries when further horrific stories of abuse emerged.
Vincent Chan was jailed for sexually abusing children at a nursery in north London, Nathan Bennett was found guilty of raping children at a nursery in Bristol, and bosses at a nursery in Dudley admitted corporate manslaughter after a 14-month-old boy suffocated and died after a staff member tried to “make” him go to sleep.
“It’s story after story now, where children are being either physically abused, mentally abused, and it’s in all different parts of the country… and it really is frightening,” Katie said.
Katie told us of the unbearable impact on her family.
“The loss of Genevieve, it’s absolutely destroyed our lives,” she said.
The Meehans want to ensure it never happens again. That’s the justice they want for Gigi.
They have three main goals. They want compulsory CCTV in nurseries, better guidance on safer sleep, and a more robust inspection process through Ofsted.
Their call for CCTV to be mandatory in all nurseries seems logical. Some nurseries already have it – but not all.
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Footage has helped secure convictions in some of the recent cases, including Genevieve’s.
While it may be a deterrent, it doesn’t stop abuse.
There’s also the cost of installation and maintenance for nurseries, many of which are already under financial pressure.
The National Day Nurseries Association told us it’s not a “magic answer”.
The association points out that buildings are not always owned by or used solely as nurseries, and there are always areas that won’t be covered by a camera, such as changing rooms or toilets.
More importantly, it says, is getting the culture right in all nurseries.
It wants to see transparent and supportive working environments, where staff are constantly and consistently trained, and parents ask more questions about safeguarding.
While the use of CCTV in nurseries is currently being reviewed in England, safer sleeping routines and training are an easier fix.
The government has committed to improving the statutory guidance that nursery workers are given in England.
So why do standards slip in some nurseries? Workers like Ellie have come forward to explain that staffing in some nurseries is a major factor.
“Staff feel burnt out, undervalued,” she said. “Managers are scared of losing staff.
“They’re willing to let things slide, or they’re willing to hire certain employees that they wouldn’t normally hire, or let things go over their head that aren’t deemed acceptable in childcare.
“Even when it comes to whistleblowing, people are just too scared to lose their job, or that they won’t be believed, so they stay silent.”
She told us she’d tried to raise safeguarding concerns at a previous nursery, and felt ignored.
“I was at my breaking point, and no one would listen,” she added.
It’s Ofsted’s role to inspect nurseries, and the Meehans want a tougher, more rigorous system.
Ofsted said it is delivering that, with inspections moving from every six years to every four, and that around a quarter of all visits are unannounced.
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Inspectors also report any concerns to local authorities and the police – as nurseries should also do.
Brilliant childcare is delivered every day across the UK, but the Meehans’ motivation is simple – no family should receive the phone call they had, telling them their daughter had died at nursery.
For more, watch the full film “Nurseries, keeping our children safe” on the Sky News YouTube channel
