Calling an adult who is accompanying an unwell child ‘mum’ or ‘dad’ can be mistaken or disrespectful

Have you ever referred directly to the adults accompanying the child that you are caring for in hospital as ‘mum’ and ‘dad’? If so, why? It’s easy to assume that the adult at the bedside is the child’s mother or father with parental responsibility, but this is unsafe practice and could result in confidential information being shared or consent sought from the wrong person. The adult at the bedside could be another family member, friend or neighbour.