School Medication and First-Aid Boundaries Policy

Scope

This policy applies where a maintained or academy primary or secondary school in England manages pupil medication or emergency medication. Its arrangements must reflect each relevant pupil’s individual healthcare plan and the school’s trained staff.

Medication and first-aid containers

Medication must not be kept in a first-aid container. Medication should be kept in the school’s designated medication location: [medication storage location].

The school should maintain a clear separation between first-aid equipment and medication so that medication is not treated as part of the first-aid container.

Limits of first-aider assistance

First aid does not generally include giving tablets or medicines. The first aider’s role for a pupil who carries medication, such as an inhaler for asthma or adrenaline for intramuscular use in anaphylaxis, is generally limited, where appropriate, to helping the pupil take their own medication.

The first-aider role does not extend to administering a pupil’s medication merely because the pupil has brought it to school.

The stated first-aid exception is aspirin for a casualty with a suspected heart attack who is over 16. Aspirin must not be given to a child younger than 16 unless it has been prescribed by a doctor.

Pupils’ own medication

Where a pupil carries or needs access to their own medication, the school should follow the arrangements recorded for that pupil and provide appropriate assistance only within the limits described in this policy.

For emergency medication, staff should refer to the pupil’s individual healthcare plan, held at [individual healthcare plan location]. The plan should identify the emergency medication arrangements and the staff members who are aware of what to do.

Life-saving prescription medication

Where a pupil may need access to life-saving prescription medication in an emergency, the details must be recorded in the pupil’s individual healthcare plan. Identified staff members should be aware of what to do.

Administration by trained people

The administration of prescription-only medication specified in Schedule 19 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 should be undertaken only by people trained to do so.

The school’s trained-person arrangements for specified prescription-only medication are recorded at [trained person arrangements location]. Staff must not administer such medication unless they are within the identified trained-person arrangements.

Escalation and clarification

Where the appropriate assistance or administration arrangements are unclear, staff should refer to the relevant individual healthcare plan and contact [named medication contact] before acting, unless an immediate response is required under an identified emergency arrangement.