School has lost DD’s medication for the second time

[Soubriquet]

Dd has asthma. Luckily she hasn’t had an attack in years but in cold wet weather, she gets a really bad wheeze and needs to use her inhaler.

She went to the office to get it to discover they had lost her inhaler. Again.

Then, instead of ringing us to discuss it, just sent her back to her classroom. She’s 9.

I wasn’t happy at all.

Today, I’ve sent her in with her inhaler and spacer in her bag minus the box so that they can’t take it off her and send it to the office.

I was already cross at inhalers being kept in the office to begin with. Minutes can spell the difference between carrying on and desperately needing an ambulance.

You’re not taking this seriously enough. This is one time when you should go in all guns blazing. This could have been life and death!

This is an extremely serious breach of the school’s duty of care to your child.

1. where is the lost inhaler? They appear to have made a habit of not keeping track. Lost medication should be taken seriously in and of itself.

2. your child was sent to the office alone. What would have happened if she’d collapsed en route? Unable to breathe? Despicable!

3. the office staff member’s actions could have killed your child. This is not trivial, a mistake, an error. It’s life and death!

4. what happened subsequently? Did her teacher not realize she was struggling for the rest of the day? If not, it’s not just the office staff who are inadequately trained.

5. I would raise a complaint, report to the relevant LA, inform Ofsted and move my child. I would have no faith in the school’s ability to care for my child AT ALL.

Inhalers should always be kept with the child in the classroom and be accessible. This is not a joking matter.

@TurtleSpurtle in Germany and unfortunately it's not allowed here. It's very controversial and I'm sure most people would administer it even on the street if it was going to save someone's life. Only a medical professional is legally allowed. But most teachers said they'd face the consequences and give the shot. We just made sure we had written permission from the parents too just in case. Luckily we never needed to do it.

safeguarding issue. Put that in your email and copy it whoever is higher up.
The council I work in policy is one inhaler in classroom and one in another accessible point eg medical room. Both with details of child.
Inhalers MUST not be locked away. Searching for a key costs vital seconds.

Older children can carry an inhaler also.
Each school in addition has an emergency asthma kit incase one runs out/not working etc.

If they phone you to talk follow it up with an email summarising the conversation. Have a paper trail.

That's just not good enough.

I'd send a very formal written complaint to the head teacher and raise this issue with the PTA.

We had this too. Not only did they lose his inhalers.
The week after we replaced them DS developed a cough in school. It was a wheezy, irritable cough, every second or so and he had all the signs of an impending attack.

Nobody told us. Just the TA at the door at pickup who said "DS has a bit of a cough today!"

I was absolutely fuming. They missed all the signs (ignored his asthma plan!) and when DS asked for his inhaler he was told "Not now. Hand down"

I was so angry. The TA had dismissed his request for the inhaler. And failed to notice his symptoms.

Headteachers reply was a meek "sorry" and that was it.

DS who was 5 at the time, went into asthma attack shortly after and he needed an ambulance. sitting in A&E, being sick from all the steroids he says "I'm going to die at school, aren't i"

DS now has permission to get his own inhaler, he knows exactly where its kept. The headteacher eventually told him to ignore his teacher and TA (after he almost died!) And promised he would not get in trouble for leaving his seat or the classroom for it.

Tbh a new HT who is looking at uniform changes is fiddling around the edges. That wouldnt inspire me at all.
As an asthmatic who suffers the most this time of year, their attitude is horrific.

For any future correspondence with the school - ask for their policy which covers asthma/medical conditions/administering medicines procedures.
Schools MUST have one.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions.
So it’s the law that children with asthma - or any medical condition - are well supported.

@Ilostmysocks - why did you leave him at that school? There is no way I would have been satisfied with that response!

Very bad.
My sis worked at a school for a while (left due to things like this) and their epipens were kept in a locked cupboard in the staff room. With only one staff member having the key. An ill child could have been at the far end of the school field..
Not the same, but my late mum was transferred from hospital to a residential home of our choice - with OTHER FOLKS' named medicines.. RH staff were appalled.

Just writing that post has made my chest feel tight with anxiety and panic!

Asthma is the shittest!

@LindseyHoyleSpeaks he's on the waiting list for the other local school. They're all over subscribed and it's a long wait 😭

This is appalling. DS is in year 5 and has been allowed to keep his inhaler in his bag since he was in year 3. It's a bit different when they are younger and that I can understand.

In addition, school have extra inhalers on site and I had to sign a form to give permission to staff to administer any inhaler in an emergency.

@AuldReekie1905 ah, yes, I did wonder if you were abroad - here it is a common myth that people cannot give it, but it is one of the medications that legislation allows to be given by anyone (including a child).

@Ilostmysocks - that is terrible! Did you go higher with your complaint? That TA should have been fired. I’d home school rather than send him in over the winter if I were you!

God this thread is bringing me out in a cold sweat all over again and my DS is now 31. His PE teacher left him lying on the football pitch saying he was just being lazy. Luckily his friend ran into school and got his inhaler.
I don't understand why some school staff seem to have so little basic intelligence and common sense.

The bigger issue is that she needed an inhaler and when they didn't have it, they didn't seek treatment for her, just sent her back to class.

They are in no way qualified to decide an asthmatic doesn't need an inhaler. Extremely dangerous behaviour, and suggests they really don't grasp that asthma can be life threatening. Poor kid must have felt so stressed.

@Soubriquet I'm glad you are escalating this, and rightly so. Asthma isn't something minor so they really should have contacted you asap. I'd be furious, knowing how quickly a wheeze can turn into more serious breathing issues.

I'm also wondering how they manage to lose the inhaler? Does someone just throw things out without checking? Little bit odd really.

Hope you get an explanation and their protocol of what to do changes.

Hope your dc is ok too

If she was send back to class and remained there she couldn't have been too bad right

But it is pretty shit that they threw out the medicine ?!

Do you have a child with asthma? The one time my DS had a pretty serious attack he just sat on the sofa quietly. To look at him he seemed fine initially. OP's DD should not have simply been sent back to class!

You know that asthma can "attack" and kill within minutes, don't you?

What an idiot

I wasn't even sure whether my son needed to go to hospital, but when we got there, they admitted him straight away and we ended up in resus. You don't mess around with asthma.

often the silent attacks can be the worse because when their isn’t an audible wheeze it’s can be a very bad sign

I wouldn’t recommend letting her keep it in her bag. That’s a child safety issue in case any other child accesses the inhaler. The teachers cupboard/desk etc is much better. The whole class know where the inhalers are kept just in case they are needed and I’m not there (or the child can’t speak to tell an adult ☹️).
but I agree, poor processes on behalf of the school.

They should have a general use one that they use in an emergency? Our school does anyway.

In any case you need to escalate this as a massive safeguarding breach.

Other children wouldn’t be harmed by using an inhaler, it’s not like it’s a painkiller. Medical professionals are really generous with their use.