Health Protection

Ensuring the safety and the well-being of the children in our care is paramount. It requires not only vigilance but also an awareness of children's individual needs.

Medicines

The Statutory Framework for the EYFS includes guidance on medicines for childcare providers this states that providers:

  • must have and implement a policy, and procedures, for administering medicines.
  • must have discussed with parents and/or carers the procedures for responding to children who are ill or infectious,
  • must take necessary steps to prevent the spread of infection, and take appropriate action if children are ill
  • must not administer prescription medication unless they have been prescribed for a child by a doctor, dentist, nurse or pharmacist (medicines containing aspirin should only be given if prescribed by a doctor)
  • must not administer any medicine (both prescription and non-prescription) to a child unless written permission for that particular medicine has been obtained from the child’s parent and/or carer.

Please see the examples and guidance below to help you develop and embed processes to meet these requirements.

 

Infectious Diseases

UK Health Security Agency have produced a practical guide for staff on managing cases of infectious diseases in schools and other childcare settings: Health Protection in Schools and Other Childcare Facilities.

Not all infectious diseases require you to report it to your local Health Protection Team (HPT) and not all infections require exclusion. It is important to read the following guidance document to ensure you are taking the correct actions in response to an infectious disease notification. Your local team can give you additional advice and support as needed. 

There are several actions that schools should be taking to prevent and control the spread of disease at their setting. More information can be found here.

If providers need to contact the HPT to report cases of a notifiable disease at your setting; seek advice and support managing an outbreak of an infectious illness; or inform the HPT of a hospitalisation or death related to an infectious illness you will need to use the following details from now on: (phone: 0300 30 30 450) (email: london.region@ukhsa.gov.uk).

 

Measles Resources

The number of measles cases has increased dramatically in England and Wales over the last 3 years and continues to increase in 2024. This is happening because MMR vaccination rates have decreased nationally and locally over this period. 

Measles is a very serious illness - one in five children who get measles requires a hospital visit and one in fifteen are affected by life-limiting conditions such as blindness, meningitis and sepsis. Measles spreads very quickly among unvaccinated people, which is why it’s really important that children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine to protect them against measles. 

As school leaders, teachers and staff it is important that you are aware of the latest information around measles so that you can respond to any questions or worries that parents, children and other staff members may have around this and so that you are aware of how to respond to cases or outbreaks of measles in your setting. Below are a range of resources which might be of interest to you.    

 

Winter Readiness

During a period of cold weather, there are a number of actions which schools should take to mitigate the impact of the cold weather on staff, pupils and their families. These actions are detailed in the action card for schools and educational settings here. If you have any questions about the actions included in this action card please email the public health team at Waltham Forest council (Public.Health@walthamforest.gov.uk)

Key school staff should sign up to receive Met Office cold weather alerts so that they can be aware of any forecasted cold weather which may affect their staff and pupils and any Green, Yellow, Amber or Red cold weather alerts that are sent out by the Met Office. You can sign up to receive these alerts here.

During the winter season, it is important that schools are reminded and updated on important health considerations for their pupils/students, parents/carers and staff. 

Pupils and stuaff in education and childcare settings are particularly susceptible to infections which increase over the winter months, such as acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) including Respiratory Syncytial Virus and COVID-19, and stomach infections such as norovirus. These can be very infectious and cause outbreaks in settings due to the close contact amongst pupils and staff. The spread of these illnesses can be limited by improving infection control practices within the school. 

Young children and/or those with chronic illnesses and neurodevelopmental disorders are also at risk of developing complications from certain vaccine-preventable infections such as measles, flu and COVID-19. It is important that they are fully immunised where eligible to prevent any complications and to reduce the likelihood of outbreaks in education and childcare settings. It is also essential that settings have up to date and easily accessible records of children identified as being in a risk group (see page six of the winter preparedness briefing – Influenza risk groups – for more information). This will ensure that a rapid risk assessment regarding the need for post exposure treatment can be considered in the event of individual cases and/or an outbreak situation. 

This briefing provides: 

1. Key messages for head teachers on winter preparedness

2. Two checklists on acute respiratory illness and norovirus preparedness including when and how to report outbreaks

3. Leaflets and further information on acute respiratory illness, norovirus, measles, polio and meningitis

Resources

e-Bug Teaching Resources

These resources have been developed by the Primary Care and Interventions Unit within UKHSA to educate students aged 3-16 about infection prevention, control and treatment. The packs include lesson plans, worksheets and activities. Download below: 

Guidance on the use of emergency inhalers in schools

The NHS guidance to managing Asthma in the setting provides useful information to support in the management of children's medical requirements. The guidance is downloadable from the section below and covers the following:

  • how to recognise an asthma
  • what to do in the event of an asthma attack
  • arrangements for the supply, storage, care and disposal of the inhaler

More information on managing Asthma in the early years and schools

Downloads

Should I keep my child off school guidance poster

Poster

Download

Managing cases of Infectious diseases

Guidance document

Download

Use of emergency inhalers in schools

Guidance 2014

Download

Medicines in school policy

Example

Download

Early years medication consent form

Example

Download

Record of medicine administered

Example

Download

Vomiting & Diarrhea Outbreak Management by UK Health Security Agency

Webinar PowerPoint slides

Download

Waltham Forest Vomiting & Diarrhea Case Study

Download

Vomiting & Diarrhea Check List

Download

School Nursery Norovirus Toolkit London

Download

NENCL HPT Factsheet

Download

Winter readiness information for London Schools and Nurseries 2022

Download

Listen to the webinar held on Wednesday 2 February 2022 

Last update: Thursday 25th of April 2024 03:20:23 PM