• A written request must be submitted to the Head Teacher and Clinical Lead for any medications that parents/carers would like to be administered at Gloucester House.
  • Medicines should only be taken to school when essential – that is where it would be detrimental to a child’s health if the medicine were not administered during the school day.
  • Schools settings should only accept medicines that have been prescribed by a doctor, dentist or nurse prescriber.
  • Medications are discussed and agreed initially between parents/carers, case co-ordinator, clinical lead and head teacher. (Forms 3a, 3b and 4 in medication file must be completed prior to commencing administration of medicines).
  • Medicines should always be provided in the original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include the prescribers instructions for administration.
  • Schools should never accept medicines that have been taken out of the container as originally dispensed nor make changes to dosages on parental instructions.

Storage and administration of medication

  • Medicines are stored in a locked medicine box in the Admin Office until required. Keys to the box are held by the Admin Manager.
  • Children should know where their medications are stored and who holds the key.
  • No child under 16yrs should be given medicines without their parent’s written consent.
  • Any staff member giving medicines to a child should check:
    • Child’s Name
    • Prescribed Dose
    • Expiry Date
    • Written instructions provided by the prescriber on the label or container.
  • The administration and taking of medication must be given by clinical nurse specialist, clinical lead, head teacher or another identified trained first aider (List in medication file), and witnessed.
  • Medication must be given at the time/s specified by the prescription.
  • If the child refuses or is not at school that day this must be recorded in the medication file.

Record keeping

  • Parents/carers should tell the school about the medicines that their child needs to take and provide details of any changes to the prescription.
  • Medications recording file should include details of:
    • Name of Child
    • Prescriber and who is monitoring
    • Name of medicine
    • Dose
    • Method of administration
    • Time/frequency of administration
    • Expiry date
    • Date
    • Name of staff member giving medication
  • A record of medication being taken is kept in the medication file in the staff room and updated daily.

Responsibilities

  • For details of insurance arrangements see the Trust’s Claims Procedure.
  • The Head Teacher and Medical Director are responsible for putting the Trust’s – Procedures for the Prescribing and Administration of Medication into Practice.
  • The Head Teacher and Medical Director are responsible for ensuring that staff receive all necessary support and training re: medication as detailed in DoH guidance – Managing Medicines in Schools (DoH 2005).
  • Parents/carer’s are responsible for ensuring that date expired medicines are returned to the pharmacy for safe disposal. They should collect any remaining medicines at the end of each term. Any remaining medicines should be taken to a local pharmacy for safe disposal.

Emergency procedures

  • In the event of a medical emergency all staff should know how to call emergency services. All staff should know who is responsible for carrying out emergency procedures. A member of staff should always accompany a child taken to hospital by ambulance, and should stay until the parent/carer arrives. Health professionals are responsible for any decisions on medical treatment when parents or those with PR are not available.
  • Staff should not take children to hospital in their own car.
  • Individual health care plans should include instructions on how to manage a child in an emergency and identify who has the responsibility in an emergency.