childminders - what do you do about permission for medication?

[greenbananas]

My 20 month little mindee is streaming with cold and horribly cranky this morning (but he seemed okay when dad dropped him off at 7.30am). I texted his mum and asked permission to give him a calpol sachet from his bag; she said yes and so I have dosed him up. He is now cuddled up next to me in front of cbeebies having a rest.

My question is this: have I done the right thing? When I was Ofsted inspected last February, the inspector said that permission for medication had to be signed that day by a parent, and that if I had not got written permission on that morning I could not give medication at any point during the day.

To be honest, I didn't take to my inspector much, and she said a fair few other things I didn't agree with. To me, it seems cruel to leave a child suffering with a headache/slight temperature just because they weren't obviously ill at drop-off time hours earlier. It is perfectly feasible that they will become ill during the day. Personally, I feel that permission by text is fine and that it's okay to just have the forms waiting for parents to sign at collection time.

What do the rest of you do?

I have a policy and it states I will try to contact parents for permission and they will sign on pick up. Parents have all signed my policies. Ofsted were fine

I have a blanket permissions sheet that is signed when children start with me and it is resigned each year. I also text parents if the child requires medicine to make sure it is ok, Parents also sign at collection to say it's ok for the medicine to have been given (use the Morton Michel forms)

I have prior written permission to administer Paracetamol syrup which is provided by the parents when they start.

If the child becomes unwell I text for permission just to cover myself in case the child has already had a dose that day.

Once I have permission I administer the Paracetamol and when the parent arrives to collect I ask them to sign my incident book in which I have noted exactly what was given when. This proves that I have informed the parent that the child has had Paracetamol and I cannot be blamed for an overdose.

I have it written into my contracts/policies that, if I believe that a child in my care needs an emergency dose of calpol/ibuprofen, then i will give it to them.i will always try to give the parents a call to get permission(then put it in my medicine book to be signed/confirmed by the parent) but if i cant get hold of them, then this covers me for it.Always write it down and get it signed.

Hi. I wouldn't administer medicine unless in emergency. If a child has a fever above 38, I will contact the parents to collect their child. The only circumstances that I would administer pain relief, is if the parents were unable to get to me in a reasonable time and I felt the child's temperature was getting high rapidly. In which case I would ask parents to confirm via phone then ask them to sign my medical book.

Prior to starting with a new child, I give parents my policies regarding medication, ask them to sign a form that consents to me administering pain relief in emergency, and ask parents to give me prescribed medicine from their doctor with their child's name on it.

I understand why you did what you did, but I Would definitely not do it a second time.

Thank you all so much for your responses. It's interesting that you all have prior written permission from parents and a policy which covers this - that's exactly what I had, and the Ofsted inspector told me I must rip these up. I am a fairly new childminder, and it was my first inspection. She felt that having blanket permissions was a 'safeguarding issue' (even though I said obviously I would always try to contact parents first). She also said that she was dropping me a whole grade because of this - so I only got 'satisfactory' and I was absolutely gutted.

Niamh I do kind of agree with you as well, but it was hard to decide what to do yesterday. Little mindee's temperature was only 37.8, and although he was extremely cranky and unlike himself, it was clear that he was not dreadfully unwell. Both parents are at least an hour away, and they would not thank me for expecting him to collect him for what may simply be another tooth coming through.

At the risk of drip-feeding, I have already been advised to complain about my Ofsted inspector. As all your inspectors seem fine with prior written permission being given when children first start, perhaps I should do this... but to be honest I can't face the hassle because I am about to go on maternity leave and I also doubt that my grade will improve if I complain.

Wow, and I thought my inspector was tough! (Though if it was your first inspection, presumably you didn't have a previous grade to be dropped from?) I think that's pretty unfair, given that what you did was well within the guidance the rest of us have been given and certainly well within the EYFS legal requirements. I too have an advance permission slip and policy that the parents sign (separate ones for prescription and non-prescription) and would contact them on the day to give a dose of non-prescription medicine and record it, getting them to sign in the evening.

Yes, it was my first inspection so, although I thought she was wrong (I had copied the forms I used from the training materials provided by my LA), I had nothing to compare her to. She told me I would have got 'good' if it hadn't been for these medication forms - although she also criticised lots of other things that I thought were okay, such as not providing activites which were specifically targeted at particular areas of the EYFS (I told her I thought it was my job to provide a wide and balanced range of play opportunities and then link those to the EYFS, rather than saying 'today we are concentrating on CLL' or whatever).

Blimey! I'd like to have a few moments with that inspector. She clearly doesn't understand the basic principles of how children learn!

You certainly should complain about her because she needs some serious training.

It is perfectly appropriate to have written prior permission to administer medication although I would always wait for additional text or phone permission before giving a dose just in case there was a reason the child should not have it which the parent had neglected to tell me.

Every activity you provide will cover all areas of learning in some way. the trick is in working out how that particular child will learn from that particular activity and making sure you have offered a wide range of learning opportunities.

You are right - she is wrong. Children learn through playing and you can plan high quality play for them. If you want to arm yourself with a but more evidence Google Tina Bruce.

I have complained about an Ofsted inspector limiting my grade because she disagreed with the paperwork I used which was provided by the network coordinator. When my inspection report arrived my grade had been increased to a good. I think you could expect to achieve the same if you complain.

Sorry that should say "You can't plan high quality play for them"

Most parents would want us to administer some sort of pain relief or temperature control relief even if they are in the act of coming to pick up their child. I certainly wouldn't leave it until it became a sort of emergency. One of my mindees was in a lot of pain from an ear infection - it came from nowhere and she was very agitated. I called mum to get her an appt with the doctor and to pick up but I certainly tried to relieve the pain for the poor child asap.

Its interesting that in this instance another parent arrived who is a GP. I told him the symptoms and that I had given paracetamol. He said that she needed ibuprofen too as it sounded like a middle ear infection. I told him that I can't administer to under 16's and he was gobsmacked..... in his words "I would be angry with you if my child needed pain relief and you hadn't given it to her". I get on very well with this parent and he was just moaning about the system but he has a point.