Our primary school says if children need medicine at specific times 'pop' in & DIY

[wonkywillow]

Surely this penalises busy working parents, with occupations where they can't just 'pop' in? Or a parent who simply has other pressing commitments..

Can schools actually do this? They seem to be negating their responsibilities towards providing education and support for children with long term medical conditions that require regular medication.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Children have to attend school

No, they have to have an education. Many people home-school and are acting completely within the law.

[SuburbanRhonda]

What would your solution to this problem be, OP?

[TammySwansonTwo]

Sigh. If their parents are working they have to attend school. Home education isn't an option if you have to work, and as I pointed out, most parents need to work.

[grasspigeons]

schools can't force staff to give medication - staff giving medication are volunteers and then each school writes its own policy about how it wants to manage giving medicines.

Luckily our Local Authority provides indemnity insurance for any member of staff volunteering to give medicine which made me feel comfortable volunteering but I presume some LA and academies don't.

we have a locking fridge to keep the medicine in, went on a one day course and have a very tightly written form to allow us to administer medicine.

unfortunately the school my children attend wont give medicine which is v annoying as I do.

[wonkywillow]

What would your solution to this problem be, OP?

The schools put aside a realistic proportion of their budgets to cater for additional needs. School liaise with the school nursing team to ensure provision is available. Schools apply for additional and emergency funding when they are spending over the stated threshold on additional medical needs in order to cater for them.

Schools don't pressurise parents to go in to school to make up for a shortfall in the provision they should have in place (in order to avoid doing the above).

[Thirtyrock39]

I've worked in this area and even having just ten kids needing routine meds at lunchtime requires a lot of staffing as you should really research n side effects of any new medication, proper paperwork needs completing, prescribed meds need checking and storing correctly and the timings need to fit in around school activities and food etc...I've not known a school say they won't do it but our school is clear that it is the schools choice to do it and that they don't have to.
Obv staff have to be trained and you need a number of staff trained in case of trips, staff absence etc...
There have been cuts in terms of nhs staff being able to be provided to perform this role very recently so it's a school issue mainly now rather than nursing

[wonkywillow]

schools can't force staff to give medication - staff giving medication are volunteers and then each school writes its own policy about how it wants to manage giving medicines

No but schools still have an obligation to ensure they have provision for medical needs available. Schools are not supposed to pressurise parents to go in in order to give medication. Here:

"it is not generally acceptable practice to:

...require parents, or otherwise make them feel obliged, to attend school to administer medication or provide medical support to their child, including with toileting issues. No parent should have to give up working because the school is failing to support their child’s medical needs; or..."

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638267/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf)

[grasspigeons]

wonkywillow - that would normally be for long term medical needs such as insulin - it doesn't really cover someone wanting calpol as they had a cough last week. Most prescriptions medicines can be given before school, as school ends and at bedtime with a bit of planning. Its really on 4 times a day doses that are a struggle and then quite often the children are too ill to attend school for some of the course of medicine and some of it is over the weekend, so a parent wouldn't lose their job, one would hope.

[wonkywillow]

The newsletter just said medication. It made no distinction between long and short term health conditions, grass. So I am including the consideration of long term health conditions for the purpose of this thread.

If the school was excluding long term health conditions in their newsletter item they should have made this absolutely clear. Not doing so could also be seen as a form of (accidentally on purpose) pressurising parents to make up a shortfall in their statutory provision.

As I said earlier, some years ago a friend of mine used to go in to administer insulin to her child at this school. So this idea is not entirely unprecedented even for long term health conditions.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Thanks for suggesting some solutions.

We have a specialist centre in our school and every child in it has an EHCP. This comes with funding attached and we use this to support additional needs. So that’s already covered for children with an ECHP. If we have to release a member of staff from the classroom to administer medicine to a child without an EHCP we have to cut back on something else. Not saying we can’t do it, but you can’t please everyone.

We have had no school nurses in our LA now for two years as there has been a recruitment freeze. Agency nurses come in to do height and weight checks but there is not even a school nurse to attend child protection meetings.

I’m not sure who schools apply to for additional funding but if it’s like anything else, we have to cater for it within existing budgets.

We don’t put pressure on parents about administering medicines but we are straight with them about what we can and can’t do.

[wonkywillow]

If we have to release a member of staff from the classroom to administer medicine to a child without an EHCP we have to cut back on something else. Not saying we can’t do it, but you can’t please everyone.

Schools need to spend £6k of their own funding on an individual child before additional 'high needs funding' is applied for. They are supposed to put aside an adequate part of their budgets in order to do this. There are emergency funds which LAs provide in certain scenarios where schools are able to demonstrate a disproportionate spend on additional needs is required.

However many schools seem to avoid spending funding on additional needs, preferring to spend their funding in a way which more obviously benefits 'most' children.

[SellFridges]

Our school will give meds but kick up a fuss about it and make it very awkward despite frequently sending notes home about how critical attendance is and how children shouldn’t miss school etc. Schools still assume that someone is at home full time to do this sort of thing. Usually a mother. I have yet to come across evidence to the contrary.

[grasspigeons]

They should have excluded children with an individual health care plan on the newsletter - but its a newsletter not a policy document, perhaps they'd had a run of people turning up with unlabelled cough mixture.

I would hope someone with a long term health condition would have an individual health care plan put in place between parents/healthcare professionals/school and the medicine would form part of the plan - hopefully having this in place would mean they knew it didn't include them.

If you are having a specific problem - I wish you all the best getting a solution.

[SuburbanRhonda]

That’s interesting to know.

Our budget went down by £65k this year so if we find ourselves in that situation I’ll let our Senco know there’s a pot of money we can apply for.

Fwiw I’m coming in early 3 days a week to administer medicine to one of our children, as he refuses to take it at home. I’m not the only one who does this. In my experience most schools work on this kind of goodwill but no-one ever hears about it.

[TinaMena]

Schools have no obligation to administer medication
Parents have no obligation to administer medication either, but they do

[SuburbanRhonda]

Parents have a legal obligation to ensure their child’s health needs are met.

[TinaMena]

Parents have a legal obligation to ensure their child’s health needs are met
Which means demanding the school meets those needs whilst a child is in their care

[SuburbanRhonda]

Of course that’s not what it means 🙄

[wonkywillow]

Children with long term health conditions have a right to receive an education, though. In this country the government fund schools to provide that education. Schools are duty bound to make provision to ensure they are not acting discriminatorily towards the children in their care. Refusing to make provision for administering medication to those children in their care, who require it, is discriminatory.

[grasspigeons]

I'd love a proper school nurse at school.

I think so much responsibility is put in the hands of volunteers/low paid individuals with little training.

[SuburbanRhonda]

We’d love a school nurse too! It’s just not going to happen in our LA though.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Re-reading your OP, I do wonder why health doesn’t provide funding for someone to come in and administer medication, especially if they have prescribed the medication. At least then it would be done by someone with health training.

[user789653241]

My ds has chronic illness and health care plan with regards to giving medication when needed. We have to sign a form 3 pages long for specific meds every year. For school trips and residential trips, have to sign separate form as well.

[Eolian]

What would happen on a school residential trip? Say, for example, if a child was perfectly healthy generally but had hayfever or an allergy which might require antihistamines. Presumably even a non-working parent wouldn't be expected to 'pop' a few hours away all the time to administer medicine?

My ds' school seem perfectly happy to administer medicine. They didn't bat an eyelid when I asked.

[user789653241]

Eolian, at our school, all the parents sign the form for general meds to be given or not.