School made my DD (age 5) self-administer her medicine!!!

[candleshoe]

So cross with school - my daughter has an allergic reaction at the moment and needed half a spoonful of piriton at 11 am.

I was told that school definitely couldn't do that but she could self-adminster her medicine with a syringe/plunger thingy!!!

She is only 5 for heaven's sake!

Health and safety gone mad!

When I was teaching full time I had a child with cystic fibrosis in the class who had to take 9 different drugs every day. I adminstered them all!!!

AIBU or are school right to be so utterly teriffied us one of us taking them to court?????

What does 'in loco parentis' mean to these women? Anything?

Yes lockets the PTA has no place getting involved in policy issues their remit is to raise additional funds for the school- although it would appear that some people get a little confused by this and also the fact that every parent in the school is also a pta member.

Pixie: it's not too bad - but has definitely worsened in the last couple of years, I'm waiting to see what it'll be like this year. So far he's had antihistamines only ad hoc: will have to look into better management if it's worse again this year.

A broken arm isn't a long term condition - it just feels like it is! [I was able to leave Calpol in school with permission for one dose during the day if he requested it;as it turned out, he didn't, but I'm glad it was there].

Some schools will administer medication if they have someone trained to do so. Not all staff will necessarily have received that training, but someone in the school should have done.

You should always send in prescribed, identifiable medication if the school are willing to give it. The document 'Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings' is quite comprehensive and says:

25. Medicines should only be taken to school or settings when essential; that
    is where it would be detrimental to a child?s health if the medicine were not
    administered during the school or setting ?day?. Schools and settings should
    only accept medicines that have been prescribed by a doctor, dentist, nurse
    prescriber or pharmacist prescriber. Medicines should always be provided in
    the original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include the
    prescriber?s instructions for administration and dosage.

26. Schools and settings should never accept medicines that have
    been taken out of the container as originally dispensed nor make
    changes to dosages on parental instructions.

and

89. Teachers? conditions of employment do not include giving or supervising a pupil taking medicines. Schools should ensure that they have sufficient members of support staff who are employed and appropriately trained to manage medicines as part of their duties.

Our school will only administer prescribed medicines, so fine for antibiotics but not for Calpol or Piriton etc.

Can you not get her the kind of AH that only needs taking once a day?

Pixie: it sort of makes sense to me too, but the reason the school were happy to administer OTC Calpol for him was that it was clearly a non-infectious reason. They won't agree for anything remotely germy (and I can see why).

Sorry haven't read all posts. I always thought our school wouldn't administer anything (says in the literature we got when ds started - he's just in reception - that if too ill for medicine, too ill for school) but just found out that they will administer prescribed medicine. Ds had had ear infection & another boy tonsillitis & they've both had antibiotics & prescribed nurofen & stronger calpol & the school will give them but you do have to fill out a form.

Maybe try to push the governers to so something similar.

Thank you Sidge...

Sorry candleshoe it's very dull for a Friday night

Ah well that might make it slightly more bearable...