Medical Policy

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This policy section has been devised to ensure that children who become unwell whilst at the nursery
are treated with sensitivity and respect. It is also to help us to protect other children from illness and the
spread of infection.

Children should not be left at the nursery if they are unwell. If a child is unwell, they will prefer to be at home with their parent(s) rather than at nursery with their peers.

Children’s well-being and safeguarding #

The Nursery Manager, or in the absence of the Nursery Manager the Deputy Manager or Room Leader, has the
right and responsibility to refuse entry to a child or request that a child is taken home if they are considered unwell or not well enough to be attending Nursery. This is non-negotiable.

It is unfair for the child to be here when they need to be with their parents/carers or having one to one
attention. It is also unfair to the rest of the children who are here if they are knowingly in contact with an
illness or infection.

We have a responsibility not only to your child but also to the other children and staff to keep them safe in our care. By allowing children that are not well into the nursery puts them at risk.

If a child becomes sick at nursery #

If a child becomes ill during the nursery day, their parent(s) will be contacted and asked to pick their child up
as soon as possible. During this time, the child will be cared for in a quiet, calm area with their key person or a
person they are familiar with.

If a child is under the age of 2 and is teething (with no other symptoms of illness), then we will permit the use
of Calpol as long as a medicine permission form has been completed and is of their only supply. The other time we may give your child Calpol is if, in the scenario, your child’s temperature spikes to a dangerously high level and the
parent and ambulance cannot attend quickly. We will give them a dose from our supply as long as the
parent has permitted us to do this. Please see below for more information about calpol.

If a child has to be sent home, we will also create an incident report on the app with exact details of the illness
the child is currently suffering along with an earlier return date.

If we are unable to contact the parent/carer they will then go on to the next person on the contact list, usually,
the second parent/carer, continuing down the list of authorised persons as necessary.

When can my child return to Nursery #

If a child was sent home the previous day, then please check the sickness incident report on Famly App as this
will inform you when the child returns.

The date and time will be strict, and children will not be able to return until this time at the earliest. The
time and date provided on the form assuming the child has been clinically well from the time of collection. If
sickness or temperature persists from their collection, please see below for additional times that should
be added to the time provided on the slip.

These timeframes have come directly from Public Health England. Please see HERE for more details.

Temperature #

If a child has a temperature, our exclusion period is 24 hours after the temperature has subsided.

Sickness and Diarrhoea #

If a child has had sickness or diarrhoea, our exclusion period is 48 hours after the last incident of sickness or
diarrhoea.

If the setting is experiencing an outbreak, then at the settings manager’s discretion, we may extend this to 72
hours.

Communicable Disease #

If a child is suffering from a communicable disease (e.g conjunctivitis and chickenpox), the nursery will follow
public health’s advice procedures and exclusions as a minimum. We might increase these exclusions
depending on the situation.

Antibiotics #

It is important that children are not subjected to the rigors of the nursery day, which requires socialising with
other children and being part of a group when they have first become ill and require a course of antibiotics.
Our policy, therefore, we advise is to exclude children on antibiotics for the first 48 hours of a new type of antibiotic.

Head Lice #

It is a regulation that information/posters about head lice are readily available, and all parents are requested to
regularly check their children’s hair. If a parent finds that their child has head lice, we would be grateful if they
could inform the nursery so that other parents can be alerted to check their child’s hair. This will be
confidential and only disclosed to the room in which this has occurred.

Suspected Contagious Infection in the nursery #

If a contagious infection is identified in the nursery, parents will be informed to enable them to spot the early
signs of this illness. All equipment and resources that may have come into contact with a contagious child will
be cleaned and sterilised thoroughly to reduce the spread of infection.

Transporting children to hospital procedure #

If a child has a significant sickness or a severe injury, the nursery shall call for an ambulance immediately.

Whilst waiting for the ambulance, the nursery will try to contact the parent and arrange to
meet them at the hospital. We may resort to other methods if we cannot contact the parent via the phone numbers provided. For example, ask other parents that may be able to contact the parent or even use social
media to message the parent directly.

A senior staff member will accompany the child and take the management iPad, relevant medication
sheets, medication and the child’s comforter. A Director will also be informed immediately of the incident.

Children who witness an incident may well be affected by it and may need lots of cuddles and reassurance.

Staff will, therefore, be aware that they are professionals and have a duty of care to not only the child affected
but to the other children within the room setting.

Use of Medicine in Nursery #

Children taking prescribed medication must be well enough to attend the nursery.

Children’s medicines are stored in their original containers in a locked cupboard, are clearly labelled and are
inaccessible to the children. Medicine spoons and oral syringes must be supplied by the parent if required.

Medications may only be used for the child whose name appears on the medicine. This includes emergency
adrenaline injections (Epipen). The medicine must have the child’s name on the packaging or the bottle. Have the dosage amount and frequency.

Parents must give prior written permission for the administration of medication. The staff receiving the
medication will complete a medical application form on Famly

The staff member will complete the form, and the parent must acknowledge what we have entered before administration. We will NOT administer any medication that the parent has not acknowledged. This is the parent’s responsibility, and if there is a delay in acknowledgement, this will lead to the administration of the medicine can not happen.

It is also the parent’s responsibility to read carefully through the medical form for administration and raise any issues or mistakes with the nursery. Once the parent has acknowledged the medicine, we can’t be held responsible for mistakes on the medication form.

Once the medicine has been administered, parents must acknowledge each dose.

Medicine will only be administered 4 hours after the child first arrives at the Nursery. This is to reduce the
chance of an overdose. If the medicine has a specific time to give the medicine that falls before the 4-hour
the time frame will have to be discussed with the Nursery Manager. On a case-by-case basis, we will then review this and come to a decision.

Storage of Medicines #

All medication is stored safely in a locked cupboard or refrigerated in an area that children cannot access
alone. Where the cupboard or refrigerator is not used solely for storing medicines, they are kept in a marked
plastic box.

A member of staff from the child’s room is responsible for ensuring medicine is handed back at the end of the
day to the parent.

For some conditions, medication may be kept in the nursery. Staff check that any medication held to
administer on an as-and-when-required basis, or regularly, is in date and returns any out-of-date medication to
the parent.

Parents should not store medicine inside their child’s bags. Medicines should be stored separately. This may cause danger to other children as if medicine falls out of bag that should not have been inside the bag. We may check children’s bags for medicine we have not been notified about to safeguard everyone inside the nursery. This will then be separated and returned to the parent.

Children who have long-term medical conditions and who may require ongoing medication #

A health care plan for the child is drawn up with the parent outlining the key person’s role, and what
the information must be shared with other staff who care for the child.

The health care plan should include the measures to be taken in an emergency.

The health care plan is reviewed every six months or more if necessary. This includes reviewing the
medication, e.g. changes to the medication or the dosage, any side effects noted etc.

Parents receive a copy of the health care plan and each contributor, including the parent, signs it.

Managing medicines on trips and outings #

Medication for a child is taken in a sealed plastic box clearly labelled with the child’s name and the name of
the medication. Inside the box, with the medication. On no account may medicine be decanted into
other containers or packets or envelopes. The original pharmacy-labelled medication should be within the box.

If a child on medication has to be taken to the hospital, the child’s medication is taken in a sealed plastic box
clearly labelled with the child’s name, the name of the medication. Inside the box is a copy of the consent
form signed by the parent.

Calpol #

As stated HERE we approve of using Calpol in only two circumstances.

The first is if a child is under the age of two, is teething and is presenting no other illness symptoms. This then must be supplied by the parent. The second time for genuinely life or death situations where we are instructed by 999 and parents have given pre-permission. This will be from a nursery-owned supply.

For any other reason, we will not permit the use of Calpol. If your child needs Calpol to come into the Nursery, they shouldn’t be brought to the Nursery. If we have reason to believe your child has had Calpol before coming into the Nursery, we will call the parents to come and collect their child.

Non prescribed Medicine #

For non-prescribed medicine, this will be administered only after a director completes a risk assessment and they have decided that we are willing to allow this medicine.

If your medicine has not been risk assessed, we won’t be able to administer it until it passes a risk assessment.

If your medicine has been risk assessed, this list will be accessible to all staff remembers, and they will feed this back to you as to whether we can administer this or not.

When a medicine has passed, this will be able to be administered like any other prescribed medicine. If it has not, then we won’t be able to administer it.

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Frequently Asked Questions #

My child has been sick but has still been charged for Nursery #

We don’t offer any discounts, refunds or exchange of hours for children that do not attend, regardless of the reason. You can read more about this in our Fees policy HERE

My child has COVID. Are they still able to attend? #

Yes. If your child has COVID and no other symptoms, such as a temperature or diarrhoea, they can attend. The regular exclusion periods will apply if they present either of those symptoms.

When my child got home, they seemed okay and were not presenting any symptoms. Can I bring them back sooner? #

If we send a child home, it is because we are confident that they are indeed poorly and are presenting symptoms. So if your child has been sent home, they won’t be able to return until the exclusion period has ended.

How do you know my child has a temperature? #

Our staff use branded thermometers to check a child’s temperature. We understand that a child’s temperature spikes, so we do our best to check twice to make sure they have a consistent temperature.

I disagree with my child being sent home/excluded. How do I appeal this? #

As stated HERE our management team has the final say on sending children home due to sickness etc. We will always support their decision and will not contradict their decision regarding keeping children safe. But if you would like to raise a complaint, then you can do so by clicking HERE.