Nursery will not calpol

[Audiomated]

Dad here. Nursery says they cannot now give paracetamol to 2 yo unless it has been prescribed. Can anyone enlighten me please? It is not always possible to drop work and dash to the nursery because child has a temperature and I do not understand why nurseries can no long give a dose of calpol pending collection of the poorly child.

Well yes ideally they would be trained in first aid etc.

All nursery staff are trained in first aid. There will be a designated first aider too but each staff member will (or should) have a valid first aid certificate that lasts (I think) 3 years with possibly annual refresher training.

but if we are saying that nursery staff are incapable of giving 5 ml of calpol properly (having checked time of the last dose) we should be worried about what calibre of people are looking after our children in the first place.

“We” aren’t saying that. No-one is saying that. They are capable of administering a dose of calpol. Their policy, however, prevents it and requires parents to do it or collect the sick child. And yes a “slight fever” is a sick child.

The EY statutory framework was updated to allow nurseries to give non prescription medicines, see here:

www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/gp-practices/quality-first/manage-inappropriate-workload/prescribing-non-prescription-medication

At our school we give non prescription meds at the parents written request. It's a huge waste of NHS resources to send parents off to get a prescription for what can be bought over the counter.

That said, a child with a temperature would be sent home as that is generally indicative of illness. Calpol for teething or a headache is fine.

Nursery staff are trained in First aid. First aid means an accident or incident like asthma attack.
They are not trained to care for sick children. Thats a paediatric nurse role.
All those saying my child was only teething , had the sniffles fair enough not very ill but not in full health either. Having to be in nursery cant be much fun for them.
Sadly if you use a nursery, you have to accept your child will be ill alot,as they the frequency of illness is generally high.
Maybe choose a childminder or nanny.
Nannies will give medicines and will care for sick children. Much nicer when they are teething , have hand foot and mouth etc to be at home.

I work in a nursery and we are allowed to give calpol. We have to call a parent for permission and to check that the child hasn't already had a dose.

It's a difficult situation because all children react differently to illness and temperatures. One child can have a slightly raised temperature and seem very unwell, while a different child has a very high temperature yet seems perfectly fine.

I also think it's means we are quick to give calpol when perhaps it's not necessary- we just have to follow our policy. I certainly don't give my children calpol at the first sign of a temperature if they seem otherwise fine. It's the body's way of dealing with things.