# OT: school responsibility?



## Cate (Oct 29, 2010)

Hi folks,

A friend's son (6) has just yesterday been diagnosed with epilepsy after a week in hospital.  He's back home now, and well in general.

He's back to school on Monday and my friend hasn't had a chance to speak to anyone there yet, as it's half term here at the mo.  Can anyone point me to some links that show what responsibillity a school has in terms of caring for children with health conditions?  She's worried that the school will refuse to keep any of his seizure meds on site or treat him if he fits and I want to give her some info in advance so she can fight her corner if required.

He's only had 1 series of seizures so far (which lasted 5 hours) so they have no idea how frequent they will be, or how severe, so any help is much appreciated!

Thanks very much in advance 

Cate.


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## gewatts (Oct 29, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your friend's son. My non-diabetic daughter is epilpetic. Initially the school nurse wrote the care plan for the school but I have recently updated it as the original one was very vague. The school would not accept my new care plan unless the consultant approved it. We saw the consultant yesterday and he was happy with the care plan I had made! My daughter is on epilepsy medication but does not need to have this at school. When we she was first dxd, we were given emergency medication (epistat) but we were told that the school would not be able to use this as it is a very strong medicine (used in date rapes) and that it would be quicker to call 999 than to find the person trained to use it. Luckily, my daughter has not had a full blown fit for 2 years and the consultant has made the decision to start weening her off her medication.


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## harryharry2012 (Oct 30, 2010)

I would suggest your friend goes to see the school straight away. It may take some time to create a care plan with school nurse as they are not based at only one school and the school will have to look at who is qualified to give out specific medicines. 

Schools do not do things to cause delay but becuase of the stupid health and safety culture we now are in they will have to make sure that they have covered all of their policies and procedures to protect your friends child and the school.

Not all schools will have experience of this and will have to prepare for it I personally think your friend should not expect immediate care if this is the case as this is unfair.I know it must be traumatic for your friend having your child diagnosed but these things can take time to arrange

The school staff are not a health care professionals so will need to discuss this with others to ensure that there is a clear plan to meet needs of child. Sad that the docotors have not considered how they could have helped by contacting the school to arrange a plan before the child returns. As a rule of thumb i would say a fitting child needs expert medical help and if a major fit happened would always phone 999. 

One thing your friend could ask for is if they have a policy for administration of medicines.


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## Cate (Oct 30, 2010)

harryharry2012 said:


> I would suggest your friend goes to see the school straight away. It may take some time to create a care plan with school nurse as they are not based at only one school and the school will have to look at who is qualified to give out specific medicines.
> ...
> Not all schools will have experience of this and will have to prepare for it I personally think your friend should not expect immediate care if this is the case as this is unfair.



Thanks - she's intending to visit the school first thing on Monday to talk to them, it's been closed all this week due to half term and there's no method (that she's been able to find) of getting in touch with anyone there - even the council couldn't help.

Ref the expecting immediate care, do you mean that her son would not be able to attend school until a care plan is in place?  What happens then re the statutory requirement for him to be educated until that is done?  Sorry for the questions and thanks for the help so far.


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## harryharry2012 (Oct 30, 2010)

to be honest each school will react in different ways. I would wait until she has been to see the school as they may have other children and have the staff in place to be able to deal with the situation.

Has your friend spoken to the doctors about the child returning to school so soon after hospiltal? Have they said it should be ok? 

There should be sytems to offer support but these differe from place to place.

 I would however suggest that there is not a rush. In my experience the whole issue needs to be looked at in relation to not just staffing, adminsistartaion of drugs but also education of other children within the classroom.

 I have had several children in my care who have had fits and one of the main areas most overlook is explaining to others what the fit is and the signs of a fit coming on. This includes other children who will need to know also. Some would think not but children can help spot the oncoming signs plus it can be very distressing seeing a child have a fit.

I am more shocked that the LA seem to have no or little advice as they should and I would suggest that your friend speak to them if she is not happy with the outcome. They should also provide home education if required after a certain number of days, I think this is 15 days or more but dont quote me! 

I have attached a link outlining the law and expecations of schools and LAs with children with medical needs.  

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents...lopment/YourChildsWelfareAtSchool/DG_10037983

Hope this helps


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## Cate (Oct 30, 2010)

Hi again,

The doctors have just said to carry on with life as normal, they made no mention of school, so the implication is surely that they expect him to go back as normal.  I'm surprised that a home education would take 15 days to kick in - when I spent 2 weeks in hospital after being diagnosed with D my teacher had to send me work into hospital to be completed.

The link looks really useful so I'll pass that on too.  Thanks for the info and help, hopefully it'll all be sorted soon and he'll  be back into the swing of things.


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