When a child in the care of Sunnymead Kids becomes unwell it is my policy to contact the parent/carer immediately to discuss the situation. For this reason a minimum of 2 emergency contact numbers must be provided.

There is a responsibility on the part of the parent to make sure that all relevant information regarding their child's medical needs is passed on to Sunnymead Kids. When I am presented with medication from any parent or guardian to administer to a child while they are in my care, the following procedure applies.

RECEIPT

On receipt of any medication to be administered to a child, a Medication Consent Form must be filled out in full by a parent or guardian and given to me on the morning of the day the medicine needs to be administered. This form must be downloaded or requested, then I will make sure all of the information obtained is correct. The parent and the childminder must then sign the Medication Form and then the information will be entered in to the medication book. 

STORAGE

If the medication has to be refrigerated, it is to be put in the fridge in a position clearly marked "MEDICATION".  If the medication is short-term and/or needs to also be administered at home it will be handed to the parent or guardian as the child leaves.

Any medicine that needs to be discarded because it is out of date or no longer required will be either returned to the parents or taken to a local pharmacist to discard. It is the parents responsibilty to ensure that all medication is "in date".

NON PRESCRIBED MEDICINE

The only non-prescribed medicine we will administer is Calpol and only under the following circumstances.

1. If child reaches a temperature of 37° c to 37.8° c (normal being 36.3° c to 37° c) the child monitored regularly with the temperature being recorded in writing on the reverse of the child's medicine record form. Action will be taken to bring this temperature down i.e. giving water to drink and removal of clothing.
2. If the temperature reaches 37.9° c then the parent or guardian will be contacted and the child's symptoms discussed. At this point a decision will be made as whether or not to administer Calpol.
3. Calpol will only be administered once the parent has sent a text or email giving us permission to administer. A verbal message is not sufficient and will not be taken as 'parents consent'. We MUST have proof of parent's permission by text message or email.
   
4. The child’s parent or guardian will be responsible for supplying Calpol for these situations.
5. If Calpol is administered the child must be collected IMMEDIATELY by a parent or guardian, as it is our belief that if Calpol is administered, then the child is unwell enough to attend Sunnymead Kids and should be at home.
6. If Calpol has been administered the parent or carer must complete a medication consent form when the child is collected and it must be signed by the childminder who administered the medication.

It is our view that in the majority of cases a child who is unwell enough to be given Calpol or medication should not be at Sunnymead Kids. We will not administer Calpol to a child who is 'under the weather' or 'had a bit of a temperature last night'. Parents must take this into account and not bring in their own Calpol and ask for it to be administered in such cases. 

PRESCRIBED MEDICATION

All medication to be administered to a child that has been prescribed by a doctor must have the following information on it:

• The child's correct name
• The date
• The name of the medication
• The dosage
• The strength (if applicable)
• The expiry date (if applicable)

The medication must be in the original packaging or bottle with the original pharmacy label on it. If we do not have all of the relevant information, the medication will not be administered.

Once the medication has been administered, the childminder responsible must sign the back of the medication form and also add the information to the child's Medication Record Sheet (this sheet will be kept with the child's records for the recommended period of time after the child has left.)

When the parent or guardian collects the child at the end of the day they must counter sign the medication form alongside the childminder's signature and also sign the Medication Record Sheet.

GENERAL POINTS

If a child has long term, on going medical needs a meeting will be arranged with the parents/careers to discuss the needs of this child prior to them starting at Sunnymead Kids. In the case of medication that needs to be administered on an ongoing basis a letter from the child's doctor will be kept on file and the medical record sheet for that child will be filled out on a daily basis. Medication will be kept in the medicine cabinet and regular discussions will be held with the parents to make sure all information we hold is up to date. Long term conditions require special care will be dealt with on an individual basis but following the above guide lines and procedures as closely as possible.

Children that have had sickness and / or diarrhoea must refrain from attending Sunnymead Kids until they are able to hold down food normally and have had a normal stool; this must be at least 24hours.

If a child has been prescribed antibiotics they must not attend Sunnymeadkids the following day i.e. if the first dose was given at 10am on a Tuesday the child can not attend Sunnymeadkids until Thursday. They may only return when there are no longer any symptoms present and the child is no longer contagious or needing one to one attention.

OFSTED will be informed if more than 2 cases of food poisoning affecting 2 or more children looked after on the premises occur.

We will contact the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and The Communicable Diseases to report any diseases or illness that staff or children have contracted that are listed as reportable i.e. measles, meningitis or e coli although the child's GP will have also communicated with the HPA.

HPA Contact details Telephone 020 8200 1295 www.hpa.org.uk Communicable diseases 020 8753 1081

If you have any queries or are unsure about anything, always ask a childminder.