Administering Inhaler to 5 Year Old Schoolboy

[Deleted member 26715]

Not sure if this should be in SCP or not, so @Moderators if I've put it in the wrong place then please move over.

Background, Grandson who is 5 1/2 years old has been issued with an inhaler & my daughter has been told that he needs to have a puff before any exercise. She went to the school October time (we think) & was told there wasn't an issue, they'd remind him before his PE lesson, going out to play etc. Talking to him last night he apparently hasn't used it in the school since Christmas, son in law asked the Head this morning, as he happened to see him & was given short shrift & told to go ask at reception. On asking at reception the response was 'Oh we can't do that, we can't be responsible, he'll have to remember to take it himself'

I'm getting this all from a slightly distraught daughter via messaging so some of the nuances maybe not exact, but is it reasonable to expect a child at 5 1/2 to remember to take his inhaler prior to PE, she is also worried that if they are refusing to remind him, what will they do if he has an asthma attack.

Is there a guideline anywhere, tried to find something on Ofsted website but as you search it seems to search the whole of the .gov.uk site.

 

[fossyant]

No its not reasonable to expect a 5 year old to remember.

Our high school have been really clued up about my son's Type 1 only diagnosed 3 years ago.

School have to respond and make sure your grandson gets his meds. Duty of care.

Come down on them like a tonne of bricks.

It's potentially life threatening

 

[Drago]

My daughter is 5, and has an inhaler and a nebuliser. In the event she requires it the school will administer it, and they're very good about it.

Asthma inhalers are not listed on some particular schedule or other, so you do not have to be qualified or certified to administer them in the manner required for some other drugs.

 

[Mo1959]

That sounds bad! Surely it's not that difficult to instruct teachers to remind any pupils requiring to take inhalers, etc before exercise.

 

[Drago]

Article 2 and Article 3 of the ECHR compels them to be proactive with the Childs welfare.

 

[classic33]

Try one of the asthma sites, see if they have any links.

If the school have been made aware that he needs regular medication, what happens if the medication is lost on school property? Will any other kid know not to use it.

I can't see how they're happy to let someone of that age, wander round school with it. I hated going up to get mine, different condition, but also aware that in the wrong mouth....

 

[Deleted member 26715]

She has since rung the Education department at the county & they have advised her to request the medication policy in writing Under the freedom of information act. However looking on the school site I have found their Child Protection Policy, which has the following paragraph (paraphrased)

Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm. It also relates to aspects of school life including:
Meeting the needs of children with medical conditions

So from this they agree they should be doing it, hopefully it's just a storm in a teacup & sense will prevail,

Article 2 and Article 3 of the ECHR compels them to be proactive with the Childs welfare.

Thanks I'll go looking for this.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Thank you all, it's good check that what we think is fair & reasonable is what other people also expect.

 

[marinyork]

Health and safety policies are required and this should include managing and administration of medicines.

I know through my job that there are some disputes/misunderstandings between schools about storage of medicines much more trivial than what we are talking about. A lot of schools won't store even paracetamol on site unless it is fully labelled as if it was a prescription.

A lot of people don't know how to use inhalers and are too embarrassed to ask their doctors and I think there's an element of variable knowledge in the population. If I was a parent I would talk to teacher and head and say look if you could just remind, but it'd make me feel a lot better if you watched a youtube video on how to use the appropriate asthma inhaler (and devices) or the asthma site so if worst came to the worst someone could just check they are doing it right even if they aren't administering.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

[QUOTE 4673219, member: 45"]The school's own meds policy will state what they will and won't do. I doubt you'd need to ask to see it under FoE.[/QUOTE]That unfortunately was what started it all off, nobody there after asking the Head Teacher, the receptionist & his class teacher knew what it was or where to find it.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

[QUOTE 4673230, member: 45"]Many schools upload their policies to their website these days.[/QUOTE]
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/administering-inhaler-to-5-year-old-schoolboy.213806/#post-4673020

 

[Milkfloat]

This is the policy for my kids school - it took a few seconds to find it.

 

[subaqua]

safeguarding.

the person responsible for safeguarding will have the meds policy .

the school my boy goes to the designated safeguarding officer does the meds . we fill in a sheet with the meds, when to take and give authority for them to issue as needed. it gets recorded and a copy of the issue sheet given at end of each week or end of course of meds.

the GP is clued up as well and issues one prescription but spilt over 2 packs on the instructions so no need to remember to collect/deliver/handover each day.

you can make things very very easy with just a tiny amount of thought

 

[Drago]

Really? The Right to Life (Article 2) and the Prohibition of Torture (Article 3)...

I think you mean Articles 2 and 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Phaeton's actually got the answer - the safeguarding route is the one to pursue. Asthma UK also publish some helpful guidance.

No, I meant exactly what I typed.

If (heaven forbid indeed) a child died of a known medical condition, and the school were in a position to prevent it and did not, then Article 2 is breached.

If the child is in pain and distress with a known medical condition, and the school are in a position to prevent or relieve that pain or distress, then Article 3 is breached.

It's sledgehammer stuff, there's doubtless more appropriate legation that's easier to administer and enforce, but if it's a state funded school then the ECHR principles apply.

 

[Drago]

Unfortunately, in my brief time in CID spent several weeks in a Coroners Court regarding a child who'd died as a result of an incident at school, so I've first hand experience of the matter both as an investigator and a close observer.