Supporting pupils with medical needs in schools

What guidance should a school give to parents of a child with medical needs?

Our policy aims for children to be able to attend school and have their medical needs met.

Such children are:

• Those with medical needs; and
• Those who may require medication or medical treatments

The emphasis is on a partnership, where essential information is shared, between home and school.

What help and advice can a school get?

Advice, help and training are available from a range of personnel and departments, including:

• Community paediatrician
• School Nursing Service
• Education Health and Safety team
• Educational Psychology Service

What guidance should a school give to staff?

Access to advice, training, information will be given to help staff members who are willing to support pupils with medical needs.

If they receive training and procedures are followed, they will be considered to have been acting legally and will have insurance cover.

Who will provide staff training?

The Health Authority will provide training through:

• School nurse.
• Community paediatrician.
• Other members of the Health Authority who are authorised to provide the training required.

The local education authority will also ensure that suitable arrangements are made for training relevant staff.

The community paediatrician can advise on:

• The most appropriate type of training
• How the training should be conducted
• How often the training should be updated

The school is drafting an agreement to administer medicine. What should it include?

It is recommended to draw up an agreement for each pupil so that the school has sufficient information to understand and support his needs fully.

What should be done in a medical emergency?

The pupil may not have had medical needs identified beforehand, so, the forms and training will not have been in place.

In such cases, the school will act in the place of a parent and administer the necessary assistance.

What should be done in a non-urgent medical situation?

Medicine should not be administered if the school does not have a prior agreement with the pupil's parent or it does not have staff members who have had appropriate training.

What should be done if there isn't a staff member who is prepared to support a particular pupil's medical needs?

The school should discuss with the parents, community paediatrician and school nurse about the possibility of having an alternative care plan.