'Under-trained' support staff are giving children medication, says Unison

Unison has published the results of a survey showing that more than 70 per cent of school support staff and teaching assistants are expected to administer medicines for conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart conditions. Many staff reported feeling a moral pressure to provide medical support, but had only routine first aid training.

Michelle McKenna, a school support worker from Durham, said, 'I know school support staff who routinely have to change colostomy bags, or administer drugs or epilepsy medicine. Support staff are really worried they will make a mistake. But they are even more worried about the safety of children they look after. It is only a matter of time before something terrible happens.'

Unison is calling for an urgent review of the types of medical procedures taking place in schools and for national protocols to be drawn up in consultation with education and health professionals.

Saranjit Sihota, head of public policy at Diabetes UK, said, 'Anyone providing medical support to children in schools or early years settings must have appropriate training. Given that school attendance isn't voluntary, it is wholly unacceptable that the provision of essential support at school is a voluntary matter.'

Other research published last week showed that last year there were 10,000 cases of children needing medical treatment because of incidents involving medication.

A report by the National Patient Safety Agency, which looked at incidents between October 2007 and September 2008, found that 10 per cent of cases involved children aged under four. The majority were a result of mistakes in the administration of children's medicine, with 23 per cent of cases caused by the wrong dosage being given and 10 per cent caused by not giving children the medicine they needed.

The research, Review of Patient Safety for Children and Young People, is at www.npsa.nhs.uk.