Medical Needs Policy

At Changing Lives Independent School, we are an inclusive community that aims to support and welcome pupils with medical conditions. We aim to provide all pupils, whatever their medical condition, the same opportunities as others at school in terms of accessing the whole school curriculum.

We will help to ensure they can do this through the following:

• The school ensures all staff understand their duty of care to children and young people in the event of an emergency.
• All staff feel confident in knowing what to do in an emergency.
• The school understands that certain medical conditions are serious and can be potentially life-threatening, particularly if ill-managed or misunderstood.
• The school understands the importance of medication being taken as prescribed.
• All staff understand the common medical conditions that affect children/young people at our school.
• The school allows adequate time for staff to receive training on the impact medical conditions can have on pupils.
• Staff receive additional training about any children/young people they may be working with who have complex medical needs supported by an Individual Health and Care Plan (IHCP).

We understand that most children and young people will have at some time a medical condition that may affect their participation in school activities. For many this will be short-term; perhaps finishing a course of medication, or recovering after a small procedure or a more serious operation.

We are also aware that other children and young people have medical conditions that are more long-term and, if not properly managed, these conditions could limit a child or young person’s access to education. Such children and young people are regarded as having medical needs. Most children and young people with medical needs are able to attend school regularly and, with some support from school, can take part in most of the school’s activities. However, staff may need to take extra care in supervising some activities to make sure that these children/young people, and others, are not put at risk.

There may be some children and young people whose access to the curriculum is dependent on adult support in order to meet their personal needs. Changing Lives Independent School seeks to include these children and young people and meet their needs.

Parent/carers have the responsibility for their child or young person’s health and wellbeing, and should therefore provide Changing Lives Independent School with the most up-to-date information about their child or young person’s medical condition. We encourage parents/carers to provide school with sufficient information about their child or young person’s medical condition and any treatment or special care needed at school on admission, and keep us informed of any new or changing needs.

If there are any special religious and/or cultural beliefs which may affect medical care that the child needs, particularly in the event of an emergency, we rely on parents/carers to inform us and confirm this in writing. Such information will be kept on the child or young person’s personal record. This policy provides information on our procedures for the storage and administration of medicines to children and the procedures for children who are able to self-administer.

All of the above is also the case if a child or young person is undergoing treatment or procedures for a short-term condition as well as those for longer-term/lifelong conditions.

It is vital that Changing Lives Independent School has the most up-to-date information on a child or young person’s medical needs or religious beliefs in terms of preparing for school trips, activities within school and in case of any emergencies that may arise.

1. Changing Lives Independent School understands that it has a responsibility to make the school welcoming and supportive to pupils with medical conditions who currently attend and to those who may enrol in the future. In doing so, the school will work in partnership alongside the child or young person’s parents/carers.
2. Changing Lives Independent School aims to provide all children/young people with all medical conditions the same opportunities as others at school. We will help to ensure they can:
   • be healthy
   • stay safe
   • enjoy and achieve
   • make a positive contribution
   • achieve economic well-being
3. Pupils with medical conditions are encouraged to manage their condition.
4. This school aims to include all pupils with medical conditions in all school activities wherever possible.
5. Parents/carers of pupils with medical conditions are aware of the care their children/young people receive at this school.
6. The school ensures all staff understand their duty of care to children and young people in the event of a medical emergency.
7. All staff have access to information about what to do in a medical emergency.
8. The school understands that medical conditions are serious and can be potentially life-threatening, particularly if ill-managed or misunderstood.
9. The school will offer staff an annual update. If a new medical condition arises over the year, then the First Aider/health provider will provide an update or give advice on the most appropriate service to deliver it. The headteacher is responsible for ensuring all staff receive annual updates.
10. The Headteacher is responsible for ensuring the medical conditions policy is understood and followed by the whole school.
11. The school understands and encourages the importance of immunisation and the role this has to play in ensuring a safe and inclusive school, and will work in partnership with parents/carers and health professionals to this end.

This policy is governed by the statutory guidance and has statutory advice set out in the document “Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions” – DFE April 2014.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of PRUs to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions.

Key points for Changing Lives Independent School:

• The headteacher will ensure that all pupils with medical conditions in our school are supported to enable them to have full access to all aspects of the education provided and the same opportunities as other pupils, including access to school trips and physical education.
• All pupils with medical conditions, in terms of either physical or mental health, will be properly supported so that they can play a full and active role at school, remain healthy and achieve their academic potential.
• The school will consult and work in partnership with health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure the needs of pupils with medical conditions are effectively met.
• The school will ensure that there is a focus on the needs of each individual pupil and how their medical condition impacts on their school life.
• The school will ensure staff are provided with appropriate training and information to provide whatever support pupils require, including training in what to do in an emergency.
• All staff have a clear understanding that medical conditions should not be a barrier to learning and that they have a duty of care to pupils.
• The named persons with overall responsibility for pupils with medical needs are the first aider and named member of SLT.

Parents of children with medical conditions are often concerned that their child’s health will deteriorate or not be effectively managed when they attend school. Pupils with long-term and complex medical conditions may require on-going support, medicines or care while at school to help them manage their condition and keep them well. Others may require monitoring and interventions in emergency circumstances.

It is also the case that children’s health needs may change over time, in ways that cannot always be predicted, sometimes resulting in extended absences. It is therefore important that parents feel confident that the school will provide effective support for their child’s medical condition and that the children feel safe.

In addition to the educational impacts, there are social and emotional implications associated with medical conditions. Children may be self-conscious about their condition and some may be bullied or develop emotional disorders such as anxiety or depression around their medical condition. Long-term absences due to health problems affect children’s educational attainment, impact on their ability to integrate with their peers and affect their general wellbeing and emotional health.

Reintegration back into school should be properly supported so that children with medical conditions fully engage with learning and do not fall behind when they are unable to attend. Short-term and frequent absences, including those for appointments connected with a pupil’s medical condition (which can often be lengthy), also need to be effectively managed and appropriate support put in place to limit the impact on the child’s educational attainment and emotional and general wellbeing.

All staff in the school are made aware of any pupils with additional medical needs and the systems in place to support them. This information is regularly updated.

All staff understand their duty of care to pupils at all times and in the event of an emergency.

Action required in an emergency for pupils with long-term medical conditions can be found on their IHCP, which can be found on Arbor in linked documents and in medical notes.

All staff supporting pupils with medical needs will receive relevant training. Training provided will be planned in conjunction with the school lead and relevant external medical professionals. Training for staff will be at a level which ensures staff members are competent and have confidence in their ability to support pupils effectively and to fulfil the requirements set out in their Individual Healthcare Plans.

If there is a need for a child to be taken to hospital the parent will be informed; a member of staff (usually the first aider) will always accompany the child and stay with them until a parent or responsible family member/carer arrives. The school will ensure a copy of the child’s healthcare plan is taken to the hospital with the child.

All staff accompanying children on off-site visits will be made aware of pupils with medical conditions involved in the trip, as part of the trip’s risk assessment.

When a pupil is starting at our school at the usual transition points and has an identified medical condition, we will ensure that arrangements are in place in time for the start of the relevant school term.

The usual process for supporting a pupil with medical needs will be by establishing an Individual Health and Care Plan. Individual Healthcare Plans help to ensure that pupils with medical needs are effectively supported. The plan provides clarity about what needs to be done, when and by whom.

Individual Healthcare Plans may be initiated by the healthcare professional or link SLT member involved in providing care to the child. Their Individual Health and Care Plan will be linked to the child’s EHC Plan.

Individual Health and Care Plans will include the following information:

• The medical condition, its triggers, signs, symptoms and treatments.
• The pupil’s resulting needs, including medication (its side-effects and its storage) and other treatments, dose, time, facilities, equipment, testing, dietary requirements and environmental issues.
• Specific support for the pupil’s educational, social and emotional needs, including how absences will be managed.
• Who will provide this support, their training needs and cover arrangements in their absence.
• Written permission for medication to be administered by a member of staff, or self-administered by individual pupils during school hours.
• Separate arrangements or procedures required for school trips or other school activities outside of the normal school timetable that will ensure the child can participate (e.g. risk assessments).
• Where confidentiality issues are raised by the parent/child, the designated individuals to be entrusted with information about the child’s condition.
• What to do in an emergency, including who to contact and contingency arrangements.

Close liaison between the school and the relevant healthcare providers will be developed to ensure that the needs of the pupil are fully catered for and reasonable adjustments made to ensure inclusion.

The First Aid Lead and link member of SLT for the school will ensure that robust records are kept relating to pupils with medical conditions including:

• Their Individual Health and Care Plans, key staff involved and the review processes.
• Administration of medication.
• Emergency procedures.
• Parental permission forms.

Parents are asked if their child has any health conditions or health issues and, if so, these should be recorded appropriately when the child enrols at the school. Parents are expected to update the school if their child’s medical needs change.

All members of staff who work with groups of pupils have access to the Individual Health and Care Plans of pupils in their care.

All Individual Health and Care Plans will be reviewed annually as a minimum by the school health professional and parents, or as and when a child’s needs change.

All non-emergency medication is stored in a locked cupboard. Medicines will only be administered at the school when it would be detrimental to a child’s health or school attendance not to do so.

If a pupil requires regular prescribed or non-prescribed medication at school, parents are asked to provide a signed consent form giving the pupil or staff permission to administer medication on a regular/daily basis if required. Written consent is also needed for pupils taking short courses of medication.

The school understands the importance of medication being taken as prescribed.

No child under 16 will be given prescription or non-prescription medicines without their parent’s written consent. Only prescribed medicines that are in-date, labelled with the child’s name, provided in the original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include instructions for administration, dosage and storage are acceptable. The prescription must be written by a UK GMC-registered doctor for the school to be allowed to give the medication to a pupil. 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.

We will keep a record of all medicines administered to individual children, stating what, how and how much was administered, when and by whom. Parents at this school understand that if their child’s medication changes or is discontinued, or the dose or administration method changes, they should notify the school immediately.

Parents are sent a school-trip form to be completed and returned to school shortly before their child leaves for a school trip. This form requests up-to-date information about the pupil’s current condition and their overall health.

Copies of IHCPs are taken by the relevant staff member on visits and for all out-of-school-hours activities where medication is required. All parents of pupils with a medical condition attending a school trip or overnight visit are asked for consent, giving staff permission to administer medications and any other information that is needed for overnight stays.

Full health and safety risk assessments are carried out prior to any out-of-school visit, and medical conditions are considered during this process.

The school has a list of common triggers for the common medical conditions at this school and is committed to reducing the likelihood of medical emergencies by identifying and reducing triggers both at school and on out-of-school visits.

All medical emergencies and significant incidents are reviewed to ascertain whether and/or how they could have been avoided. Appropriate changes to policy and procedures are implemented after each review.

This school works in partnership with all interested and relevant parties including the school’s Proprietor, all school staff, parents, employer, healthcare professionals and pupils to ensure the policy is planned, implemented and maintained successfully.

The headteacher will ensure that arrangements are in place to support pupils with medical conditions and that they are enabled to access the fullest possible participation in all aspects of school life. The headteacher will ensure all staff have received the appropriate level of training and are competent to support pupils.

All staff at the school have a responsibility to:

• Be aware of and understand the school’s medical conditions policy.
• Be aware of the potential triggers, signs and symptoms of common medical conditions and know what to do in an emergency.
• Know which pupils in their care have a medical condition and be familiar with the content of the pupil’s Healthcare Plan.
• Allow all pupils to have immediate access to their emergency medication when necessary.
• Maintain effective communication with parents including informing them if their child has been unwell at school.
• Ensure all pupils with medical conditions are not excluded unnecessarily from activities they wish to take part in, and understand the impact a medical condition may have on a pupil and make any reasonable adjustments to accommodate this.

Specific responsibilities of key staff:

• The First Aider for the school will keep an overview of any pupils whose medical needs impact on their learning, will advise staff working directly with them and ensure appropriate strategies are put in place to support them.
• Staff with first-aid training will give immediate help to casualties with common injuries or illnesses and those arising from specific hazards within the school and, when necessary, ensure that an ambulance or other professional medical help is called.
• Staff, with support from the LA NHS team, will ensure all medication is correctly stored and labelled, regularly reviewed, in date and that parents provide new medication as needed.
• The LA NHS team will be involved in healthcare planning for pupils with medical needs as appropriate.

Individual doctors and specialist healthcare professionals caring for pupils who attend this school have a responsibility to:

• Complete the pupil’s Health and Care Plans provided by parents.
• Where possible, and without compromising the best interests of the child, try to prescribe medication that can be taken outside of school hours.
• Provide the school with information and advice regarding individual children and young people with medical conditions (with the consent of the pupil/parents).

Acute healthcare service personnel have a responsibility to:

• Have an agreed system for receiving information held by the school about children and young people’s medical conditions, to ensure best possible care.
• Understand and provide input into the school’s medical-conditions policy.

The parents of a child at this school have a responsibility to:

• Tell the school if their child has a medical condition.
• Ensure the school has a complete and up-to-date Healthcare Plan for their child and that this is signed and dated by the parent.
• Inform the school about the medication their child requires during school hours.
• Ensure their child’s medication is within expiry dates and provide appropriate spare medication labelled with their child’s name.
• Ensure the school receives written letters for medical appointments.