Can any teachers or workers in the insurance industry help?

[Rjae]

Not really sure where to ask this but I need to know what the insurance issues are with schools when it comes to feeding a child in a different way. What are their risk assessment policies? What their insurance covers? How it is interpreted?

I know any answers will only be generalised but any light that can be shed and any direction would be brilliant.

The problem briefly is DD is severely disabled and fed through a tube into her stomach. She is to attend a MS school soon. Normally children with gastrostomies are fed a type of 'complete' formula milk but many including DD vomit, reflux and are not thriving on this milk. We have now changed to feeding whole, natural, normal food, blended and fed through the tube and DDs health and wellbeing has improved beyond recognition. However her proposed school insists on formula feeds and the dietician says the schools insurer will not contemplate this feeding.

We need to know why the schools insurance is interpreting this like this. We have done a dieticians risk assessment and will sign a disclaimer but still they refuse. Any ideas how we can appeal and to whom?

Littlefish - sorry i probably wasn't very clear. That is exactly what i was trying to say - that teachers are under no obligation to give medication or treatment...they have to be on-board and willing.

I thought that's what you were saying Apocalypse. I think it's a really important point that you were making and so, thought it was worth clarifying with you, for the OP.

Many thanks for the clarification, but the teachers will not be giving the blended food or even the medical formula. A TA has been specifically employed for the job and if she refuses she will be unemployed! I can understand the issue around teachers being unwilling to give medications but in our case there aren't any to give. Spoke to the community paed today and she is 100% on our side so things look a bit better. I still have loads of information to correlate though.

A TA has been specifically employed for the job and if she refuses she will be unemployed!

Has the TA been employed to give blended food or the approved feed detailed in the statement?
As the TA will have been employed to fulfil the needs of the statement ... the latter. In which case he/she is well within their rights to refuse to do something that is outside that remit.

The TA isn't actually in post yet to specifically look after DD but it will be made clear what her duties are and that will include tube feeding her with whatever is in that finalised EHCP. What's so about someone being employed to do a job, agreeing that's what's in their contract and if not fulfilling her contract being unemployed? If I went for a nursing job but refused to nurse, I think I would be unemployed pretty quick.

Currently have a letter from the community and the gastro paed so a good start in getting some big guns behind me. They have both agreed the EHCP from September should reflect what she has at home. The dietician has spoken to the BDA and clarified for herself the schizophrenic BDA document...and agrees to support us fully and discuss with the school at the next meeting in a couple of weeks. I've had a word in passing with the senco and given her the names of several schools with children in a similar schooling situation (MS primary) and she will be contacting them to see what their experiences have been. Luckily I know all positive. So it's going well at the moment. Most of the current statement has been updated and it's just some new bits being added. Not too sure if they will need to rewrite the whole thing as its to be an EHCP but I am sure it will be clarified soon.

If it's in her/his contract to tube feed blended food that is exactly what she/he will do. If it specifies formula feed that is what she/he will do.

All existing statements will need to be converted to EHCplans to comply with the new code of practice

I thought that was the case re the EHCP but not a lot has been said about it at the moment except for us pushing the feeding. I suppose everyone dealing with them will be busy updating the statements. I will read up on them more as I am not sure of the differences and how it affects DD, if at all.