Administration of medicines
Christian values
The specific Christian Values of Love, Respect and Courage underpin, and are intrinsic to the ethos and belief of Saint James Church of England Primary School.
Our vision
At Saint James we accept challenges, take risks and work to make to make positive change in ourselves and our community. Focusing on building resilience and compassionate relationships allows everyone to flourish. Using our Christian values to guide us, we develop skills to navigate rough seas and transform our world.
Be strong and courageous and do it
1 Chronicles 28:20
Introduction
Policy Statement
Saint James Church of England Primary School will undertake to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation and guidance in Health Guidance for Schools and “Supporting Pupils at School with medical conditions. September 2014 with regard to procedures for supporting children with medical requirements, including managing medicines. Responsibility for all administration of medicines at Saint James Primary School is held by the Head Teacher who is the responsible manager.
It is our policy to ensure that all medical information will be treated confidentially by the responsible manager and staff. All administration of medicines is arranged and managed in accordance with the Health Guidance for Schools and “Supporting Pupils at School with medical conditions. September 2014 documents. All staff have a duty of care to follow and co-operate with the requirements of this policy.
Aims & Objectives
Our administration of medicine requirements will be achieved by:
- Establishing principles for safe practice in the management and administration of:
- prescribed medicines – records are kept of each administration
- non-prescribed medicines
- maintenance drugs
- emergency medicine
- Providing clear guidance to all staff on the administration of medicines
- Ensuring that there are sufficient numbers of appropriately trained staff to manage and administer medicines
- Ensuring that there are suitable and sufficient facilities and equipment available to aid the safe management and administration of medicines
- Ensuring the above provisions are clear and shared with all who may require them
- Ensuring the policy is reviewed periodically or following any significant change which may affect the management or administration of medicines
Administration
The administration of medicines is the overall responsibility of the parents. The headteacher is responsible for ensuring children are supported with their medical needs whilst on site, and this may include managing medicines where appropriate and agreed with parents.
Prescribed medicines
- It is our policy to manage prescribed medicines (e.g. antibiotics, inhalers) where appropriate. Parents are required to complete the ‘Administration of Medicines and Treatment Consent Form’ which is held in the office prior to any medicines being administered.
- DFE guidance states that only prescribed medicines that are in date, labelled by the pharmacy and provided in the original container can be administered in school.
Non-prescribed medicines
- It is our general policy not to take responsibility for the administration of non-prescribed medicines, (e.g. cough mixtures provided by the parents) as this responsibility rests with the parents
- On occasions when children unexpectedly require paracetamol or paracetamol based medicines (e.g. Calpol) or anthisan it is our policy to administer providing that the ‘Administration of Medicines and Treatment Consent Form’ has been completed by parents and has been received in advance and administration is in accordance with guidance provided in the Health Guidance for Schools document
- In the event of the school administering these non-prescribed medicines, they would check that the child had not been given a dose prior to coming to school (i.e. if a minimum of four hours hadn’t lapsed). A supply is kept in school along with a Ventolin inhaler to be used in an emergency for any child who would normally be prescribed an inhaler.
- On occasions when a parent is aware of a minor condition that may require the child to take paracetamol (e.g. Calpol) during the course of the school day the parent is welcome to bring in and administer the medicine to the child at the appropriate time, as the school cannot administer non-prescribed medicines in these cases.
- Children under 16 years old are never to be administered aspirin or medicines containing Ibuprofen unless prescribed by a doctor
- Responsibility for decision-making about the administration of all non-prescribed medicines will always be at the discretion of the responsible manager who may decide to administer under certain miscellaneous or exceptional circumstances
Maintenance drugs
- It is our policy to manage the administration of maintenance drugs (e.g. Insulin) as appropriate following consultation and agreement with, and written consent from the parents. On such occasions, a health care plan will be written for the child concerned.
Non-Routine Administration
Emergency medicine
- It is our policy (where appropriate) to manage the administration of emergency medicines such as (for example):
- Injections of adrenaline for acute allergic reactions
- Rectal diazepam for major fits
- Injections of Glucagan for diabetic hypoglycaemia
- In all cases, professional training and guidance from a competent source will be received before commitment to such administration is accepted
Procedure for Administration
When deciding upon the administration of medicine needs for children we will discuss this with the parents concerned and make reasonable decisions about the level of care required.
Any child required to have medicines will have an Administration of Medicines and Treatment Consent Form’ completed by the parent and kept on file.
Individual health care plans will be completed for children where required and reviewed periodically in discussion with the parents to ensure their continuous suitability.
For any child receiving medicines, a ‘record of prescribed medicines’ sheet will be completed each time the medicine is administered and this will be kept in the green folder in the medical room.
If a child refuses to take medication the parents will be informed the earliest available opportunity.
Contacting Emergency Services
When a medical condition causes the child to become ill and/or requires emergency administration of medicines, then an ambulance will be summoned at the earliest opportunity.
Medical Accommodation
The medical room will be used for medicine administration/treatment purposes. The room will be made available when required.
Training
Where staff are required to carry out non-routine or more specialised administration of medicines or emergency treatment to children, appropriate professional training and guidance from a competent source will be sought before commitment to such administration is accepted.
A ‘staff training record’ sheet will be completed to document the level of training undertaken.
Such training will form part of the overall training plan and refresher training will be scheduled at appropriate intervals.
Storage
The storage of medicines is the overall responsibility of the responsible manager who will ensure that arrangements are in place to store medicines safely.
The storage of medicines will be undertaken in accordance with product instructions and in the original container in which the medicine was dispensed.
It is the responsibility of all staff to ensure that the received medicine container is clearly labelled with the name of the child, the name and dose of the medicine and the frequency of administration. This information is also on the ‘Administration of medicines and Treatment Consent Form’ completed by parents.
It is the responsibility of the parents to provide medicine that is in date. This should be agreed with the parents at the time of acceptance of on-site administration responsibilities.
At the end of each academic year, stored medicines are returned to the parents.
Disposal
It is not the school’s responsibility to dispose of medicines. It is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that all medicines no longer required including those which have date-expired are returned to a pharmacy for safe disposal.
‘Sharps boxes’ will always be used for the disposal of needles. Collection and disposal of the boxes will be locally arranged as appropriate.