(Administration of medicines in school: who is responsible?)
Chronic illnesses, such as asthma, epilepsy and diabetes, are relatively common in schoolchildren and often require treatment during school hours. In this week's BMJ Dr Bannon from Northwick Park Hospital highlights the continuing debate about who should be responsible for the administration of medicines to children, while they are at school. There is no legal requirement for schoolteachers to administer medicine, notes the author, yet some parents hold the view that teachers act in loco parentis and this role should include medicine administration. Parents argue that if they can learn to deliver drugs effectively to children, so can teachers.
On the other hand many teachers understandably express anxiety about accepting liability for something in which they have received little or no training. Storage of medicines at schools is also fraught with difficulty.
Bannon concludes that four measures must now be taken:- health professionals should arrange training events for teachers; local education authorities should ensure that each school has general policies in place with respect to the administration of medicines to children; teachers must continue to respond as positively as they can when they encounter a child with medical needs and, finally, parents must acknowledge that they hold the prime responsibility for their children's welfare and that accountability for the administration of medicines must be negotiated with, rather than demanded of, school staff.
Contact:
Dr M Bannon, Consultant Paediatrician, Paediatric Directorate, Northwick Park and St Mark's NHS Trust, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow