Health plan
Some students will have an Individual Health Plan to cover medical procedures such as catheterisation and peg feeding, or management of a health problem. These are developed by a medical practitioner and overseen by the school nurse. These will be reviewed annually or earlier if there are changes required.
Education Queensland’s policy on medication administration and management can be found on Education Queensland’s website under HLS-PR-009: Administration of Routine and Emergency Medication and Management of Health Conditions. Permission forms are included in the Enrolment package for your completion.
This Policy states that:
School staff can assist a student with medication under the carer provisions of the Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation (1996) provided that a written request is received from the student's parent/caregiver and that the medication includes an original pharmacy label detailing the name of the person authorised to take the medication, dosage, time to be taken and medical practitioner's name. Staff must follow the directions on the original label attached to the medication container.
All medication is stored in a locked refrigerator and administration occurs only under the supervision of two staff members. Paperwork is completed by two staff members to ensure that the correct dosage of the correct medication is given at the correct time.
The administration of over-the-counter medications, including analgesics and homeopathic medications, are subject to the same accountabilities as prescription medications. However, as many over-the-counter medications will not have an original pharmacy label detailing the name of the person authorised to take the medication, dosage, time to be taken and medical practitioner's name, a letter from a medical practitioner will need to be provided to authorise administration of this medication.
For asthma relieving medications such as Ventolin, parents/caregivers are to notify the school in writing if their student has been prescribed this medication by a medical practitioner.
In emergency situations, school personnel may be required to administer medication to preserve the life, safety and health of a student.
Parents / carers must:
notify school in writing of a health condition requiring medication at school.
request school in writing to administer prescribed medication or to assist in management of a health condition.
notify school in writing of any requests and/or guidelines from medical practitioners including potential side effects or adverse reactions.
provide medication in original labelled container to the school.
ensure medication is not out of date and has an original pharmacy label with students name, dosage and time to be taken.
notify school in writing when a change of dosage is required. This instruction is to be accompanied by a letter from a medical practitioner.
advise school in writing and collect medication when it is no longer required at school.