Administration of medication
The administration of medication forms part of the NSW Department of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø’s common law duty of care to take reasonable steps to keep students safe while they attend school.
IN AN EMERGENCY, CALL 000 IMMEDIATELY.
Overview
When a medical practitioner has prescribed medication that must be administered during your child’s school day, either temporarily or ongoing as part of a student's Health support plan, parents/carers must:
- notify the child's school
- provide up-to-date information to the school as required
- supply the medication and any 'consumables' to the school for timely administration.
School staff employed in the roles of School Administrative Manager, School Administrative Officer, School Learning Support Officer and Aboriginal ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Officer classifications are required to perform duties and complete relevant training associated with medication administration, as directed by the school’s principal.
Except in an emergency, only individual staff members who have been trained will administer prescribed medication to students. Training is available via MyPL through the self-paced online course, Administration of medication in schools. Staff support material can be accessed under supporting resources once training has been completed.
Required documentation for the administration of medication
Parents/carers must complete:
- Request form - student health support. This form is required if a student is diagnosed with a condition that may require an emergency response (severe asthma, Type 1 diabetes, epilepsy and anaphylaxis) or for additional health support including administering medication.
- Request for student to carry their own their adrenaline injector or asthma reliever medication (if relevant).
Schools will provide the relevant forms to parents for completion. A Health support plan will then be prepared through consultation between the school and parents/caregivers.
Principals will provide to parents/carers:
- Confirmation letter – student health support. This form is provided by the principal, confirming the health support arrangements and/or the administration of the student's medication at school.
All documentation provided by a parent/carer is stored confidentially and securely by the school.
Self-administration of prescribed medication by students
Students must not carry their medication unless the parents/carers and school have a written agreement allowing them to do so. Students may self-administer their medication if they are capable of doing so. Where a student is living independently, they may provide consent themselves.
Principals are unable to approve students to carry or self-administer controlled medications, such as schedule 8 medications.
The department will take reasonable steps to ensure that a student who is self-administering their medication is doing it safely. The school's decision to support any parental request for a student to self-administer prescribed medication will be influenced by the following:
- the ability and maturity level of the student
- relevant parental and medical advice
- the complexity of the administration of prescribed medication procedure
- the willingness of the student to self-administer
- the level of support required in an emergency.
Non-prescribed medication
In general, schools do not administer medication that has not been requested for an individual student’s specific condition.
Emergency care
- Schools do not generally supply or administer medications in an emergency unless parents/carers have provided them as part of the student’s health support plan
- In an emergency that has not been anticipated in the emergency/response care section of a student's Health support plan , staff will provide a general emergency response (for example, call an ambulance). Where an emergency response requires the immediate administration of medication to prevent serious illness or injury, school staff will administer the required medication.
Frequently asked questions
Your child’s enrolment should not be deferred on the grounds of needing to administer medication or health support procedures, unless there are significant safety issues that are to be resolved in consultation with a senior administration officer and the school principal prior to deferring enrolment.
The school principal relies on parents/carers to provide medical information to the school.
On occasion, principals may wish to discuss matters with a student's doctor directly. On most occasions, the principal will seek the written consent of parents/carers for the doctor to provide the school with information about the child's health condition.
The use of dosette boxes isn't permitted because they're not tamper proof and don't contain information about the medicines contained within. This means staff are unable to verify the contents.
Prescribed medication must be in the original packaging provided by the pharmacy and include a pharmacy label detailing the student’s name. Examples include manufacturer’s packaging, blister packs or plain pharmacy packaging with pharmacy label. Prescribed medication must have the instructions for administration included on the pharmacy label or provided in writing (or verbally) by the medical practitioner to the school.
Non-prescribed (over the counter) medication must be in the original packaging with the manufacturer’s instructions on how to administer the medication.
Parents/carers are required to supply medication and any consumables necessary for administration.
Schools may choose to discuss with a student's parent/carer considerations as to whether any particular arrangements are required in order for the school to administer the medication accurately, such as specifying a preference for medications to be provided in blister packs (also known as compliance packs, Webster-pak® or bubble packs).
Prescribed medication must be in the original packaging provided by the pharmacy and include a pharmacy label detailing the student’s name. Examples include manufacturer’s packaging, blister packs or plain pharmacy packaging with pharmacy label. Prescribed medication must have the instructions for administration included on the pharmacy label or provided in writing (or verbally) by the medical practitioner to the school.
Non-prescribed (over the counter) medication must be in the original packaging with the manufacturer’s instructions on how to administer the medication.
Schools cannot accept medication supplied in a dosette box.
If schools identify a need to dispose of a student's medication, this should occur with parent/carer consent wherever possible.
Parents/carers can take unwanted or out-of-date medication to any pharmacy for safe disposal. If the parent/carer is unable to do this, the school can take the medication to the Pharmacy for disposal, with the parents’ consent.
Secure delivery of prescribed medication is important for the safety of all involved. If the parent/carer is unable to deliver the medication to school, they must nominate a responsible person, who is not a school staff member, to transport the medication to the school.
The school requires the parent/carers permission to administer the medication. Parent/carers are required to complete a Request form - student health support (which will be provided by the school). The delivery of the medication would be also be negotiated with the school.
Related policies and procedures
Contact details
For further information, please contact correspondence-studenthealthandwellbeing@det.nsw.edu.au.