Letter to Parents: Medical Tracker System

Dear Parents / Carers,

We have implemented a new system in the academy called Medical Tracker.  This system will be used to record first aid treatment and also the administration of medication for our children and young people.  In addition, the system allows parents/carers to receive notifications of when medication and/or first aid treatment has been administered to their child, notification of when their child’s medication is expiring and also when individual health care plans are due to be reviewed.  

Requests for consent to administer medication in the academy can also be sent via email to reduce the need for parents/carers to complete paperwork. In order for this to be used as effectively as possible, please ensure that your contact details and child’s medical conditions are up to date within the academy.

In order to work effectively together and assist us with working within the guidelines of the DfE Guidance - Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions we would like to remind parents/carers that any prescription medication must be supplied to the academy in the original packaging which includes the label with your child’s name on and instructions of use.  

It is helpful to you and the academy to request the prescriber to create two separate prescriptions when medication is due to be administered during the academy day as one can remain at home and one can remain in the academy with the required amount for administering during the period required.  

In addition to the implementation of Medical Tracker, we have amended our policy to allow the use of non-prescription paracetamol which will be managed and monitored in the same way as prescription medication.  This amendment aims to provide a practical solution for addressing minor ailments and ensuring that children and young people can attend the academy without unnecessary discomfort.   

For non-prescription paracetamol, we ask you to supply this in the original packaging and with the manufacturers leaflet contained within the box.

Due to lack of storage space we are unable to keep paracetamol on site for students to use as and when required however if your child is suffering some mild pain such as headache, stomach pain etc we are now able to administer this.  

Paracetamol will need to be brought in only for short term use and can only be administered in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions which is usually for no more than 3 consecutive days without seeing a GP.  Paracetamol must be collected 3 days after it has been left with us, after which point it will be disposed of.  Other medication is not permitted unless it has been prescribed to your child.

This decision is in line with health and safety guidelines, particularly regarding aspirin and products containing aspirin (salicylate).  Children under 16 should not be given aspirin unless prescribed, and our staff, whilst dedicated, are not health professionals and may not be able to identify the various medical terms for salicylate that may be present in other non-prescription medications.

The exception to this is if your child has been recommended an alternative non prescription medication by a medical professional then this would be written into their care plan to manage their medical condition.

Medical Tracker, and the sub-processors it uses, have been reviewed by our Data Protection Officer to ensure that it meets our expected standards for data security and data protection compliance. You can find a copy of the Medical Tracker Privacy Notice here and information about the sub-processors here. If you have any questions about the data protection compliance for medical tracker please contact dpo@outwood.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Considine at s.considine@shafton.outwood.com

Yours faithfully,

File

Letter to Parents_ Medical Tracker .pdf 202 KB