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Primary education

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Original poster

School refused to give my son his prescribed medicine

44 replies

OnTheRoadToSomewhere · 27/11/2023 14:51

Am I overreacting about this?

My son is really susceptible to chest infections whenever there's something going around. Well he's been hit again and has been prescribed Amoxicillin this weekend after a doctor's appointment.

He needs to take it 3 times a day evenly spaced across the day (we were suggested to give it him at mealtimes). His course of them will be over after Wednesday so it'll be one dose midday for them to give him.

I took the bottle and a spoon in a sealed food bag into school this morning and was turned away because school policy is they can only administer medicine where it's needed to be taken 4x a day or more. They suggested I give it him in the morning, then after school then at bedtime.

But that's not evenly spaced out.... 8am, then 4pm, then 7.30pm?

There's also no medical policy on their website at all so whatever she's referring to isn't public knowledge for parents.

Plus, he's already had this around the same time last year and they gave it him no issue.

Do I just get on with it or should I flag this?? I'm more annoyed at the lack of common sense and lack of policy than I am being told to just do it myself.

OP posts:
CaptainMyCaptain · 28/11/2023 19:51

Balloonhearts · 28/11/2023 19:36

How old is he? If 9 or 10 I'd just give him the bottle in his bag and tell him to take it in the toilets.

Don't do this.

MissBuffyAnneSummers · 28/11/2023 19:54

Before school and after plus supper time will be fine.

Thisismynewusernamedoyoulikeit · 28/11/2023 21:14

Balloonhearts · 28/11/2023 19:36

How old is he? If 9 or 10 I'd just give him the bottle in his bag and tell him to take it in the toilets.

Dangerous and stupid advice. You've no idea what needs other children have, and would be introducing an unknown risk to the school completely unnecessarily.

Scarletttulips · 28/11/2023 21:19

And it should be stored in the fridge.

WGACA · 28/11/2023 21:42

weefella · 27/11/2023 17:24

It takes 2 members of staff to give one child their medication. One to actually administer it and one to witness it and sign to say that it was done correctly.

Medication also has to be stored in a locked cupboard or a fridge that children can't access, so it can't be kept in the classroom.

So that's 2 members of staff needing to leave the classroom, go across the school to where the medication is stored, administer it, and then fill in the paperwork. And of course a third member of staff is then needed to keep an eye on the rest of the class during that time.

With funding cuts and staff shortages, we just can't do it for every child who needs antibiotics.

This! Most schools have a 4x a day only policy. You can go into school at lunchtime to administer it yourself though.

Sherrystrull · 28/11/2023 21:55

Balloonhearts · 28/11/2023 19:36

How old is he? If 9 or 10 I'd just give him the bottle in his bag and tell him to take it in the toilets.

Another child could find it and drink it. Is could spill in the classroom. He could drink it all and no one would know. It could go off as it's not in the fridge and make him sick.

LyndaLaHughes · 28/11/2023 22:36

Balloonhearts · 28/11/2023 19:36

How old is he? If 9 or 10 I'd just give him the bottle in his bag and tell him to take it in the toilets.

Is this actually a serious suggestion? Wow, just wow.

Amybelle88 · 28/11/2023 22:40

beachreader · 27/11/2023 14:55

I work in a school and it's the same there, 3x daily we won't do, only if it's 4x the office will administer.

Could you bring it to school and do it just before he goes in and as he comes out so it more 8:30, 3.30?? Or we often have a grandparent who pops up to administer it at lunchtime if you want it done exactly evenly spaced? X

Why does it have to be 4 times? What an odd rule! I mean it is what it is, but seems so random!

SoIRejoined · 28/11/2023 22:55

I think it's disgusting, what is more important than a child's health? There's a reason antibiotics need to be spaced out, the school staff don't have the medical training or the authority to rewrite the dosage instructions. Schools are so obsessed with SATS results etc they seem to forget they are responsible for the health and wellbeing of children in their care.

Moveoverdarlin · 28/11/2023 22:55

Don’t flag it! Most schools have this exact policy. Before school, after school, and just before bedtime is fine.

WGACA · 28/11/2023 22:56

Amybelle88 · 28/11/2023 22:40

Why does it have to be 4 times? What an odd rule! I mean it is what it is, but seems so random!

Show quote history

It’s because if it’s 4 times then it’s reasonable to ask the school to administer one dose within the school day. If it’s 3 times the parent can do it before school, after school and before bedtime.

Meadowgrasses · 28/11/2023 23:02

We always used to wake our dc when we went to bed (so final dose 10ish) to space it out - so 8, 3 ish and 10 ish. They don’t need to wake up fully - just tell them what you’ll be doing and explain that they won’t even need to open their eyes, you will just prop them up and squirt it in.

Orangeanlemons551 · 28/11/2023 23:08

Three times a day means 8 hourly - so yes 8 am after school , then as late as possible. The reason is antibiotics are more effective without a huge gap . So give when you go to bed. I’ve done this lots of time . Child will hardly wake up. Syring , maybe a glass of water , toilet trip , cuddle and back to sleep .
Your Job to parent your child not the school staff.

JVC24601 · 28/11/2023 23:12

SoIRejoined · 28/11/2023 22:55

I think it's disgusting, what is more important than a child's health? There's a reason antibiotics need to be spaced out, the school staff don't have the medical training or the authority to rewrite the dosage instructions. Schools are so obsessed with SATS results etc they seem to forget they are responsible for the health and wellbeing of children in their care.

They do, however, have the basic maths training to realise that 8-12-8 is the same spacing as 8-4-8. Both have one 4 hour gap and one 8 hour gap, so OP’s concerns were entirely unfounded.

beachreader · 29/11/2023 03:11

@Amybelle88
If it's 3x daily meditation then it's possible to give relatively evenly spaced doses without needing it during school hours, 4x daily you can't really evenly space without a dose been required between 8:30 and 3:30.

I think it also all boils down to staffing being so skeleton in schools now; when I first began teaching we had an all day school nurse who we could send any ill children to and she could also easily administer medication, nowadays it's the office staff and usually TAs who are first aid trained and expected to work across multiple classes covering multiple roles so it's just an additional tine consuming job they don't have time to do. Unlike at home where it's a case of grab the bottle out of the fridge, load the syringe and bang you're done, it's a much more time consuming process at school (fridges usually in the staffroom which in my school is at the opposite end of the school, 2nd person required to check correct child and dosage etc), put it back and take child back to class or bottle back to fridge, sign to say it's been administered etc.

marcopront · 29/11/2023 03:49

SoIRejoined · 28/11/2023 22:55

I think it's disgusting, what is more important than a child's health? There's a reason antibiotics need to be spaced out, the school staff don't have the medical training or the authority to rewrite the dosage instructions. Schools are so obsessed with SATS results etc they seem to forget they are responsible for the health and wellbeing of children in their care.

Unless the school day is more than 8 hours, how does evenly spacing mean it has to be taken during the school day?

8 am 4 pm midnight is evenly spaced.

What spacing are you thinking there should be?

LizHoney · 29/11/2023 04:10

OP YANBU to query a different approach last year to this. Conveniently none of the teachers jumping on this thread to defend their brethren have addressed that.

So school should acknowledge they've changed their policy, and that they should have articulated this change of policy previously so you were aware upon being prescribed and could have checked different spacing ok.

But I agree no harm done and certainly not worth a fuss.

sashh · 29/11/2023 04:24

Three times a day is every 8 hours, ie a day is 24 hours.

So as close tot hat as you can get, first thing in the morning, after school and just before bed.

Sherrystrull · 29/11/2023 07:09

LizHoney · 29/11/2023 04:10

OP YANBU to query a different approach last year to this. Conveniently none of the teachers jumping on this thread to defend their brethren have addressed that.

So school should acknowledge they've changed their policy, and that they should have articulated this change of policy previously so you were aware upon being prescribed and could have checked different spacing ok.

But I agree no harm done and certainly not worth a fuss.

Ok, I'll address it for my brethren... Not sure why the aggressive tone was needed but anyway.

Schools have no money and no spare staff. Administering medication means a TA or two giving their lunch break or groups of children missing out on support in lessons.

Therefore, if it's at all possible for us not to do it, we won't. It's nothing to do with not caring for children.

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