GIBSIDE SCHOOL

Medication in Schools Policy

Co-ordinator; Andrea Gourley

Date of policy; June 2015

Date of next review; June 2016

Purpose and scope

This policy has been drawn up with guidance from and meets the requirements of:

Dept of Health – Managing medication in Schools Guidelines 2005

Health and safety at Work 1974

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Misuse of Drugs Act

This policy covers the administration and storage of medication for employees and pupils of Gibside School.

General Principles

  • The school will provide the facility to store, administer and record individually prescribed medication (in the medical room or in identified classrooms who have their own medical cabinets
  • The school will hold a supply of liquid paracetamol but will encourage parents of children who are in a class with a locked medicine cabinet to provide their own.
  • The school will assist children with long-term medical conditions by drawing up personal plans for the administration of medication in line with their health care plan
  • The school will endeavour to notify all staff of pupil medical alerts and treatment regimes
  • The school will train and monitor staff who are used in the process of assisting with the administration of medication (training for suction machines, oxygen and gastrostomy feeds will be refreshed each year)
  • The school will regularly review and update this policy
  • The school will notify parents/guardians, if required, should an outbreak of a contagious condition arise within the school. Advice on the periods of exclusion for contagious diseases and the recommended treatment of head lice will be available on request.
  • In the event that a child refuses to take prescribed medication (e.g. Ritalin) the school will advise the parent and destroy the drug as per the guidelines.
  • Medications handed in that are not in their original dispensing containers will be rejected and the parent informed. This may result in a child being sent home from school.
  • Parents will be advised that Gibside School does not allow pupils to carry/ administer medication
  • All medication brought into school via the home/school transport, should be clearly labelled, in original dispensing containers and handed to the escort. The escort should give the medication to the TA on duty who will take it straight to the class team who follow procedures for locking the medication away-Medication will be returned home by handing to the escort
  • All staff have a duty of care and should be aware that under normal circumstances administration of medical care will be legally acceptable and no liability for malpractice would apply.

Procedures

Prescribed Medication:

Medicines should only be taken into school or settings when essential: that is where it would be detrimental to a child’s health if the medicine were not administered during the school day. School will only accept medicines that have been prescribed by a doctor, dentist, nurse prescriber or pharmacist prescriber. Medicines should always be provided in the original container as dispensed by the pharmacists and include the prescriber’s instructions for administration as well as the child’s name on the container

Gibside School will not accept any medication that has been taken out of the container as originally dispensed nor make changes to dosages on parental instructions.

Controlled Drugs:

The Misuse of Drugs Act and its associated regulations control the supply, possession and administration of some medicines. Some may be prescribed as medication for use by children. Any trained member of staff may administer a controlled drug to the child for whom it has been prescribed, providing it is in accordance with the prescriber’s instructions.

Controlled drugs must be stored and administered in accordance with the following procedure:

  • Controlled drugs will be stored in a locked non-portable container (medical room, Rainbow, Yellow, Blue, Red and White classes) and only identified staff should have access
  • Controlled drugs, as with all medication, should be returned to the parent when no longer required to arrange for safe disposal. If this is not possible, it should be returned to the dispensing pharmacist

Non-Prescriptive Medication:

GibsideSchool will only hold supplies of liquid Paracetemol/Calpol, which will only be administered after verbal or written permission from the parent/guardian. This will be stored securely in a lockable cabinet in the medical room.

Short Term Medical Needs:

In certain circumstances, where non-administration of a drug could be detrimental to the child’s health, the school will hold antibiotics for administration throughout the school day. Where possible the medication should be given at home- it is advised that if medication to be given 3 times per day this could be given from home (before school, straight after school and before bed).

Long Term Medical Needs:

Pupils with long term medical needs will have a care plan, including medical administration guidelines, drawn up by health care workers following protocols as advised by doctors/consultants involved with the child.

Administration of medicines and Record Keeping:

Trained staff will administer prescribed and non-prescribed medication and record the issue as per guidelines-see appendix. Records of trained staff will be maintained by Deputy Headand complex needs co-ordinator

Educational Visits/ Sporting Activities:

The party leader is delegated responsibility for the storage and administration of prescribed and controlled medication. Gibside School will include all children in community and residential activities; however adults should be made aware of the need for privacy and dignity for children with particular care needs. Staff will be trained for suction machines, oxygen, feed machines, epi pens etc. when appropriate

Home to School Transport

Currently the LA are responsible for the medical needs of pupils whilst being transported to and from school.

Employees/Staff Medication

The school will not hold or administer medication bought into school by a staff member. However, advice on the storage of such medication may be sought.

Safety of Medication Supplies:

Large volumes of medicine should not be stored. Medicines will be stored in accordance with the product instructions and in the original container in which it was dispensed. The container must be clearly marked with the pupil name, dosage and frequency of administration. Where two or more medicines have been prescribed, each must be in a separate container. Emergency medication, such as asthma inhalers or epi-pens are kept in locked medicine cabinets in classrooms or in a safe place in classroom cupboards. Refrigeration is available for products that require temperature control in the medical room

Training:

Staff who administer medication will be trained in the correct procedures for giving, storage and disposal of medicines. Correct hygiene and infection control procedures will be taught. Safety precautions, such as disposable gloves/aprons will be used. If it is thought that an employee needs a Hep B vaccination this must be determined by a risk assessment. Once the risk assessment is done they will be referred to Occupational Health who will discuss the situation with them and send paperwork to their GP. The GP will do a blood test to check for previous exposure as this will determine whether the Hep B vaccination is required.

Each person who administers medication must:

i)Receive a copy of these policy guidelines

ii)Read the written instructions/parental consent form for each child prior to supervising or administering medicines, and check the details on the parental consent form against those on the label of the medication.

iii)Confirm the dosage/frequency on each occasion, and consult the administration of medicine record form to ensure there will be no double dosing;

iv)Be aware of symptoms which may require emergency action, e.g. those listed on an individual treatment plan where one exists;

v)Know the emergency action plan and ways of summoning help/assistance from the emergency services;

vi)Check that the medication belongs to the named pupil and is within the expiry date;

vii)Record on the medication record form all administration of medicines as soon as they are given to each individual;

viii)Understand and take appropriate hygiene precautions to minimise the risk of cross contamination;

ix)Ensure that all medicines are returned for safe storage.

x)Ensure that they remain confident in the procedures and have received appropriate training/information.

xi)A second member of staff will also witness the correct dosage, disposal and storage of medication.

Unusual Occurrences, Serious Illness or Injury

All parents/guardians should be informed of the school’s policy concerning pupils who become unwell while at school, or on authorised educational visits, trips, etc. It is vital to have not only the pupils’ home telephone numbers, but parents’/guardians’ daytime numbers and other emergency numbers such as those of relatives, in order to make contact. If parents and relatives are not available when a pupil becomes seriously unwell or injured, the headteacher should, if necessary call an ambulance to transport the pupil to hospital.

Notifiable Diseases

Headteachers should be aware of the Local Health Authority document “Guidelines for the Control of Communicable Disease in Schools” which should be available in all schools. The school must ensure that staff who administer medications are aware of the precautions to be followed to minimise exposure to hepatitis and other transmissible diseases.

Disposal of Medicines

Any medication, which has reached its expiry date, should not be administered. Medicines, which have passed the expiry date, should be returned to parents/guardians for disposal via their pharmacist.

Risk Assessments

Under the Health and Safety policy, risk assessments will be regularly undertaken with regards all aspects of medical treatment

Parental Responsibility:

The parent/Guardian is ultimately responsible for the child’s medical needs, however, whilst at school every effort will be made, within the guidelines, to ensure that the medical needs are met.

Medical Confidentiality

Staff in schools have no automatic right to be informed of any medical condition suffered by any pupil. However, in order that pupils can receive the best possible care, parents/guardians should advise the school of any conditions that may require intervention during the school day. Any medical or related information provided to the school either by parents/guardians or health care professionals must always be treated in the strictest of confidence. Information should only ever be shared with those members of staff whose role may lead to them providing treatment or other intervention as agreed with parents.

Checklist for the administering of medication

  • All medication must have the pharmacists label on that gives the name of the medication, dosage and the child’s name
  • Parents must fill in a ‘Parental agreement for school to administer medicine(including emergency medication)’ or ‘Parental agreement for school to administer paracetamol’ form and send into school with the medication`
  • Staff should record regular medication on the master list
  • Staff should record all administered medication (including use of inhaler) in their class medicine folder (if they have their own classroom medicine cabinet)or in the school medicine folder in the medical room
  • Staff should notify parents when the medication starts to run low, giving parents time to obtain fresh supplies
  • Staff should record the administering of non-regular medication in home/school diaries

1

Date / Record of medication administered /
Time
administered
Dose given
Signature of staff administering medication / Name ______
Class ______
Name of medicine ______
Print name
Tablets remaining
Medication put away
Observed by?
Date / Record of Paracetamol administered /
Time
administered
Name of medicine
Dose given / Name ______
Class ______
PARACETAMOL
Signature of staff administering medication
Print name
Medication put away
Observed by?
/ Parental agreement for school to administer
Paracetamol (General school paracetamol)
Name
Date of birth
Class
Dose
Special requirements
(e.g. via tube/syringe/spoon)
Any other information

Please note – Gibside School uses paracetamol suspension. Medication will only be administered after 12 o’ clock unless permission has been sought from parents/carers on an individual basis.

I understand that I must notify the school of any changes in writing

I give permission for school staff to administer this medication

Signed ______

Date______

/ Parental agreement for school to administer
Paracetamol (child’s own individual paracetamol)
Name
Date of birth
Class
Name of Medication
Dose
Special requirements
(e.g. via tube/syringe/spoon)
Any other information

I have provided this medication for my child and I understand that the medication will only be administered after 12 o’ clock unless permission has been sought from parents

I understand that I must notify the school of any changes in writing

I give permission for school staff to administer this medication

Signed ______

Date______

/ Parental agreement for school to administer medicine
(including emergency medication)
Name
Date of birth
Class
Name of Medication
Dose
Special requirements
(e.g. via tube/syringe/spoon
Medicine to be crushed etc.)
Time
Are there any side effects that school needs to be aware of?
Procedures to take in an emergency?

I understand that all medication brought into school via the home/school transport, should be clearly labelled with the original pharmacy label, in the original dispensing container and handed to the escort

I understand that I must notify the school of any changes in writing

I give permission for school staff to administer this medication

Signed ______

Date______

/ Register of medication administered on a daily basis
Name & Class / Time
administered / Name of medicine / Dose given / Staff trained
to administer / Parents signed authorisation received / Where is medication stored / Care plan/
Protocol in place

1