To expect school to administer prescribed medication

[Heather1425]

My son is in Y4 at school, he has been prescribed antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day however the school have said they will not administer them and I have to come in but working full time 45 minutes away is impossible. Last year a similar incident happened where he was on oral antibiotics and because they were 3 times a day they said they don't give children them because they can have it once before school, once after and once before bed but when they go to out of school club until 6 then in bed at 7 this isnt exactly what a dr means by 3 times a day! Is it unreasable to expect a school to aid in keeping children well when they expect them to go in if they can?

I should add that he is unable to administer them himself

I'm sorry to hear that - they are being most unhelpful ! At DD's school they were OK to give her antibiotics as long as I provided the original prescription and the labelled box. Do you have any family or friends who could go and give the medications ?

What does their medicine policy say? In my son's primary it requires 2 members of staff to verify child, verify the medicine and sign to say that child has had their medicine. It takes time out of the day. In a large school there was a queue for children for their medicine at lunch time. It depends if they can staff it. Some parents will come in, a grandparent or carer to administer the medicine if it isn't prescription meds ie Calpol.

Eye drops would be more difficult and depends on how cooperative the child would be.

Its not in a teacher's job description though and if it got forgotten among all the million and one other things to do there would be hell to pay. Some TAs at my school did administer medication and had timers to remind them.

Imagine if every child in every class needed medication administering.

The only medicating done at my school would be the defibrillator (never thankfully used thus far and 5 members of staff only authorised and trained to use) and the diabetes medicine. Even then it's only a couple of members of staff who can do it.

You are not in any way unreasonable to expect them to administer the medication if it is due when he is under their care.

I'd be ringing the school's governing body to find out where you stand in this and what their obligations are if I was you.

Hmm. Tricky one. I work in a school and regularly administer calpol, antibiotics etc but eye drops is a different ball game. I have recently had to give them to my toddler and its been a nightmare, I've no idea how cooperative your child is but you usually have to use a certain amount of force to administer eye drops so it's a bit of a safeguarding minefield

This must be incorrect.

What about kids with asthma inhalers, chronic conditions requiring regular medications such as epilepsy medication, medication for things like ADHD that often require midday doses.

If it is true then the school's policies need an overhaul.

Nobody was allowed to administer non prescription medicines like Calpol at my school.

Asthma inhalers given when needed are different. We were also trained in using an epipen. Reacting to an immediate need is different to being responsible for giving medicine at a specific time.

In my earlier post I said some TAs could give medicines at my school which would include ADHD meds. They had a specific job to do at that time. Mine was a large primary with a lot of TAs but maybe the OP'S school can't do that.

This. Think it somewhat depends how willing your DS is to have the drops given.

also, if it falls on the teachers and they forget, as they have a million things to do, that’s a lot of extra responsibility put on them. But I’d have thought there would be someone in the school staff who were assigned to the task provided they don’t need to force your DS to sit still to put the eye drops in.

What about regular mmediation such as ADHD or epilepsy meds?

Surely you can't be serious that your school would refuse to administer these when they are required throughout the day?

What happens if there is a stuff up and harm happens to child?

Medications at the schools we have been at have been administered by office staff.

If medication is required, whether there is specific staff or not, it would be neglectful to refuse to administer it.

I mentioned that in another post - TAs did it. I was not in charge of policy and have been retired for 8 years anyway. I'm just saying how it was.

Our school asks for a permission form to administer oral antibiotics and then they set an alarm for the time needed. If the medication contains high allergens (some contain egg) then they can't do it. Eye drops though I had those as a child a lot and I was a nightmare to have them done! It's different to a spoon where you don't need to physically touch the child to administer it.

Yes, you must have posted while I was responding.

You're not just saying it, you're defending it.

If it is still happening then it needs to change, kids can't just miss medication doses because it's put in the too hard basket.

It's not unreasonable for them to not be comfortable administering eye drops. There is no legal obligation for school staff to administer medication, its ultimately up to the school. You could speak with governors if you wanted for clarification.

"If it is still happening then it needs to change, kids can't just miss medication doses because it's put in the too hard basket."

Too hard for whom? The child's parent?

Wasn't there a poster on here not long ago that said their school wouldn't adminsiter anything at all?

Our school won't administer calpol, antibiotics or anything like that even ADHD medication, it's expected the parent will sort it. It's Diabetic Medication, Epipens and Inhalers when needed in an emergency only.

This doesn't sound quite right to me. I work in a school and we administer prescription meds all the time. Two members of staff must administer/sign and parents are required to complete a permission form and provide labelled medication. It is true that if it's a 3 times a day dosage we would always suggest that the middle dose is done at pick up time rather than parents bringing medicine in and filling in forms, but in the OP's case - with a child going straight on to wraparound care - we would always then agree to administer that middle dose.

We cannot however administer anything 'over the counter' - so anything from a cough lozenge to a dose of Calpol to an application of sudocrem for sore skin - we can't administer anything unless prescribed by a medic and so a parent or other trusted carer would be required to come in to school to give these.

OP are you sure you've made it clear to the school that your DC's eye drops are prescribed? I am wondering whether they've assumed they are over-the-counter drops instead. I know we have had this problem before in schools because a lot of DC who suffer from hay fever, for example, often just use over-the-counter medication and then we have to get parents to come in to give it.

It’s normal for school to not give three times a day antibiotics. I wouldn’t expect them to give eye drops at all!

ds needs regular medication in school and school are brilliant with doing them but if he needs extra in school I nip down to do them

Staff would be entitled to refuse to administer eye drops for all the reasons given.

We really shouldn't be expected to give any medication there should be a nurse in every school like there used to be.

@StoppinBy - it's nothing to do with the governors, unless the OP has give through the formal complaints procedure and it's reached the Governor stage.