Senior staff may administer prescribed medication in accordance with the prescriber’s instructions provided that the parent has requested it, authorised it in writing and signed all relevant paperwork.
However, children should be encouraged not to attend the holiday club within the first twenty-four hours of starting or changing a prescribed course of antibiotics. This is to ensure that:
- Any adverse reaction can be monitored by the parent.
- To ensure that the child begins to feel well enough to attend nursery and participate in the day’s activities.
- Reduce the risk of cross infection to other children / staff.
However, where children are not clearly unwell or might frequently be prescribed antibiotics for ongoing health issues, the holiday club Manager may use their own judgement to allow children to attend in such circumstances. The holiday club Manager’s decision on this is final.
All prescribed medicine must be provided in their original container with the pharmacist’s label visible and be clearly labelled with:
- Childs Name
- Type of medicine / name
- Date of prescription
- Expiry date
- Dosage
- Any other relevant information e.g. storage conditions, method of administration, side effects.
Staff should not accept and never administer medicine if it is clearly not labelled or provided in its original container or recently prescribed. Medicines that are out of date will not be accepted and never administered. Failure to abide by this is a breach of company policy.
Staff should always carefully read the label ahead of administering medicine. Sometimes wording on medicine labels might be unclear or awkwardly phrased. Staff should take time to acquaint themselves with the proper dosage as set out on the label for administering any medicine.
When medicines are administered the ‘Parental agreement to administer prescribed medicines’ form should be completed by that member of staff.
If a child refuses to take the medicine, staff will not force them to do so but will note this in the records and follow procedures agreed with the parent or set out in an individual child’s health care plan. Parents will be informed immediately of any such refusal and should advise how the holiday club should proceed.
All medicines should be provided on a daily basis by the parents and stored as recommended. If under refrigeration it should be stored in an airtight container that is clearly labelled and placed in a designated area of the fridge. The holiday club management team will be responsible for ensuring access to the fridge is restricted. All other medicines should be stored in a secure container or cupboard as detailed above.
The only exception to this is the storage of emergency medication for example, asthma inhalers or Auto Injectors which might be required to be kept in rooms where children are present. These may be stored in a labelled and lidded container or Ziploc Bag within a designated safe location in the child’s room.
Children who require emergency or on-going medication will also require an individual Health Care Plan and Risk Assessment, as previously set out in this policy.
Medicine expiry dates must be checked as part of the holiday club Management Team.
If a child still requires medicine for a long-term health condition or allergy but a replacement is not provided immediately by the parent, then the child must not attend the holiday club until this has happened. Failure to implement this means the child could be at increased risk of suffering a medical emergency without having the proper medicine available to assist them whilst in the care of Hopscotch. If the parents inform the holiday club that the child, no longer requires this medicine then an updated Health Conditions & Allergy Management Form should be completed immediately.
If a child is suffering from a recognised communicable disease, then the appropriate exclusion periods should be applied. They may also need to be excluded if the child requires special treatment that has not been identified as part of the on-going care plan for example, injections, change of dressings etc.