Administering medicines: staff responsibilities
Find out what the requirements are for staff administering medicines to pupils at school, and what to do if you don't have enough trained staff.
Contents
This article is based on the Department for Education's (DfE's) statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school.
Staff can refuse to administer medicines
You can ask teachers or other staff member to administer medicines to pupils, but they can refuse to do so. Bear in mind that teachers' professional duties don't include administering medicines or providing medical care.
However, teachers should take into consideration the needs of pupils with medical conditions that they teach.
Refer to your policy
Your school is required to have a policy that clearly states how you're supporting pupils with medical conditions, including the roles and responsibilities of all staff involved.
Download and adapt our model policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions, or use our checklist (in the same link, above) to help you review your existing one.
See also examples of schools' policies for administering medicines in this article.
Staff must be appropriately trained before giving
Also in 'Teaching and support staff roles'
- Can unqualified teachers and support staff lead PE lessons?
- Employing unqualified teachers: requirements
- Higher level teaching assistant (HLTA): qualification requirements
- Higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) delivering lessons
- Intimate care: responsibility of school staff
- Leading practitioner: responsibilities and pay