Medicines

If at all possible, we ask parents to administer medicines at home. However, please see guidance below regarding administration of medicines at school:

Nurseries

The Department for Education issued guidance for schools.

Key points include

– that providers must have and implement a policy, and procedures, for administering medicines.

– the school must have systems for obtaining information about a child’s needs for medicines, and for keeping this information up-to-date.

– training must be provided for staff where the administration of medicine requires medical or technical knowledge.
– prescription medicines must not be administered unless they have been prescribed for a child by a doctor, dentist, nurse or pharmacist (medicines containing aspirin should only be given if prescribed by a doctor).

– appropriate over the counter medicines can be administered without prescription, at a parent’s request and with parent’s written consent.

Medicine (both prescription and non-prescription) must only be administered to a child where written permission for that particular medicine has been obtained from the child’s parent and/or carer. Providers must keep a written record each time a medicine is administered to a child, and inform the child’s parents and/or carers on the same day, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

Schools

The Department for Education produced additional guidance.

Wherever possible, children should be allowed to carry their own medicines and relevant devices or should be able to access their medicines for self medication quickly and easily. Children who can take their medicines themselves or manage procedures may require an appropriate level of supervision. If it is not appropriate for a child to self-manage, relevant staff should help to administer medicines and manage procedures for them.

This highlights that children should be allowed to self-medicate wherever possible. No child under 16 should be given prescription or non-prescription medicines without their parent’s written consent – except in exceptional circumstances where the medicine has been prescribed to the child without the knowledge of the parents. In such cases, every effort should be made to encourage the child or young person to involve their parents while respecting their right to confidentiality. Schools should set out the circumstances in which non-prescription medicines may be administered.

This is clear that non-prescription medicines (over the counter medicines) can be administered following written permission by the child’s parent. GPs and other prescribers
should not be required to write to confirm that it is appropriate to administer over the counter medicines – parents can provide this consent.

Schools should only accept prescribed medicines if these are in-date, labelled, provided in the original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include instructions for administration, dosage and storage. The exception to this is insulin, which must still be in date, but will generally be available to schools inside an insulin pen or a pump, rather than in its original container.

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