Medicine 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.
The only medicines that can be administered at school are:
• Medicines prescribed by a doctor, dentist, nurse prescriber or pharmacist prescriber (prescription medicines)
• Prescription medicines included in a child or young person's Health Care Plan and agreed by a health care professional have been formally agreed with a parent or carer and a parental agreement has been set up and signed to cover incidents such as high temperature.
• Medicines that staff are trained and insured to administer
A REQUEST TO ADMINISTER MEDICINES FORM MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE ANY MEDICINES CAN BE ADMINISTERED WITHIN SCHOOL.
All medicines should be provided in their original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include prescriber's instructions for administration.
This should include:
• Dosage and frequency
• Full name of medicine
• Name of student
• Duration of course of treatment (if applicable) - wherever possible please consult GP to see if it is essential that doses should be taken at school for example if medicine is to be taken 3 times a day, it may be satisfactory to give it before school, after school and before bed
• Date prescribed and expiry date
• Specific directions for the administration
Any controlled drugs that are unused, expired or no longer clearly labelled will be returned to parents/carers for safe disposal. If a parent is not able to collect the medication an agreement will be made for such medication to be disposed of by the trained administrator. All uncontrolled medication that is unused, expired or no longer clearly labelled will also be taken to a chemist to be disposed of.
A young person under 16 should never be given aspirin or ibuprofen unless prescribed by a doctor
OFF SITE VISITS / RESIDENTIAL
Before any offsite visit or residential trip, staff will carry out a risk assessment and make arrangements for the administration, storage and transportation of medication. If you have any concerns regarding any trip please do not hesitate to contact relevant staff to discuss your concerns.
All staff taking students out of school should consult with the appointed medical staff and check the medical register before leaving the school premises for updated information.