Medical conditions in school

Supporting pupils with medical conditions

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools and academies to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions.

We have key responsibilities in championing the needs of these children and young people. We are responsible for providing education to children and young people where they are unable to attend school due to ill health. You can read the statutory guidance on the Department for Education website.

The guidance states:

Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education.
Governing bodies must ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions.
Governing bodies should ensure that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of children with medical conditions are properly understood and effectively supported.

Individual Healthcare Plan

An Individual Healthcare Plan is a document produced between all parties. It lays out what the child’s medical needs are with appropriate treatments and responses. This should be easily accessible to staff and regularly updated.

Medical Needs Policies

Every education setting should have a Medical Needs policy. This gives information about what procedures are in place to support medical needs. This document should be updated regularly. For information about a specific settings Medical Needs policy please contact them directly. An audit of medical needs and policies is produced annually by the Local Authority.

Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions template

Roles and Responsibilities

The DfE has set out responsibilities for all involved in the care for a child with medical needs:

The Local Authority:

Commission school nurses for maintained schools
Promote co-operation between relevant partners
Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) must make joint commissioning arrangements for education, health and care provision for children and young people with SEN or disabilities
Local authorities should provide support, advice and guidance, including suitable training for school staff, to ensure that the support specified within individual healthcare plans can be delivered effectively
Local authorities should work with schools to support pupils with medical conditions to attend full-time.
Where pupils would not receive a suitable education in a mainstream school because of their health needs, the local authority has a duty to make other arrangements.
Must make arrangements for children who are off school for more than 15 days.

The Governing Body:

Ensure all pupils with medical conditions are supported to enable the fullest participation possible in all aspects of school life.
They should also ensure that any members of school staff who provide support to pupils with medical conditions are able to access information and other teaching support materials as needed.

The Headteacher:

Ensure policy is developed and implemented
Make sure all staff are aware of policy
Ensure all staff know about the condition
Ensure sufficient staff are trained
Have overall responsibility for the health care plans
Notify the school nurse of children

Parents:

Must provide the school with sufficient and up to date information
May need to be the ones to tell school about the medical need.
Should be involved in the development of the plan
Should carry out any actions they agree (such as providing medication)

The child:

Should be fully involved in discussions about the medical needs
Should contribute as much as possible.
Should comply with the care plan.

Other students should be sensitive to medical needs.

School staff :

Any member may be asked to help with medical needs including giving medicine but they cannot be required to.
Should receive appropriate training before taking on responsibility of meeting medical needs.

School Nurses:

Must be responsible for notifying the school where a child has a medical need.
May support implementing the plan (for example training)
Liaise with clinicians on appropriate care
are available for advice from schools

Other Medical professionals:

Health professionals including GPs should let the school nurses know when a child has a medical condition.
Can provide advice on creating medical care plans
Specialist local teams can provide support

Further Information

The Health Conditions in School Alliance is an organisation made up of 30 charities to support children with Medical Conditions in schools. Take a look at their website for more information and advice.