Teething, giving Calpol

[Tinkerbell1979]

12 month old mindee teething and miserable. At quick drop off as Dad was late, very late for work, said she's not had any today but if you feel she needs it can you give her Calpol. She did need it, question is I use the NCMA folder and just wondered if I needed a slip everyday I gave it? Just thinking she may need it tomorrow too?

6924

[jo.jo76]

I don't know anything about NCMA forms but I think if it was me, I would text parents to check if it's ok to give it as their reply can count as written permission if they have not give you permission today and then I'd get them to sign on collection.

[chezzagriff]

For prescription I have parents sign each day but for calpol I have a medication sheet that the parent signs that lasts a month. In this case the parent countersigns if I have needed to give it. I still always contact the parent before giving it though just incase the child has had any before they came to me.

[Tinkerbell1979]

For prescription I have parents sign each day but for calpol I have a medication sheet that the parent signs that lasts a month. In this case the parent countersigns if I have needed to give it. I still always contact the parent before giving it though just incase the child has had any before they came to me.

Is this your own form?

[chezzagriff]

Yes. Im not sure how you send pics on this but I could email you a pic of my form if you like. I told Ofsted that this is what I was going to be doing 2 weeks ago and they said thats fine. Also the nursery I was working in did it like this and Ofsted were always happy with it being done that way. Parents were also happy with it. In the 7 years of using these forms never had a complaint.:D

[littlecheeks]

12 month old mindee teething and miserable. At quick drop off as Dad was late, very late for work, said she's not had any today but if you feel she needs it can you give her Calpol. She did need it, question is I use the NCMA folder and just wondered if I needed a slip everyday I gave it? Just thinking she may need it tomorrow too?

6924

i use the ncma medication forms which a parents signs at the end of the day, and yes i would do one for each day i use calpol. i also always have parents give me writeen permission in the mornigns at drop off for any medication, this can be done in the childs daily diary or i have my own medication permission form they can fill in and give to me for that day.
also personally i wont give a child any medication that hasnt been provided for by the parent (but maybe thats just me)
x

[vikkit]

I'm the same as littlecheeks...I would use a slip a day, only from labelled medicine they had provided and get them to sign each day. X

[Tinkerbell1979]

also personally i wont give a child any medication that hasnt been provided for by the parent (but maybe thats just me)
x

It was provided by the parents, it stays in her nappy bag and taken out by me each morning.

Thanks, think ill stick with what I'm doing.

[bunyip]

The regulatory requirements and Ofsted guidance for giving medicines can be found in:

EYFS Statutory Framework 3.42 - 3.44
Requirements for the Childcare Register: childminders and home childcarers (guidance document 080161) - requirement reference CR8 (record keeping)
Giving medication to children in registered care (guidance document 080290)

In this case, the first and last documents are the relevant ones, given the child's age.

EYFS states that "Medicines must not usually be administered unless they have been prescribed for a child by a doctor, dentist, nurse or pharmacist." This caused a lot of confusion last year, with many of us wondering if we were banned from giving any over-the-counter medicines, leading to a clarification in the Ofsted guidance document. This was a beautiful fudge to counteract the poor drafting of EYFS, which was factually inaccurate since pharmacists cannot write prescriptions. In a bold venture into the realm of creative etymology, Ofsted have simply redefined the word "prescribed" to mean "recommended" (whereas most normal people, including the ones who write dictionaries, take it to mean "issued under a formal written prescription".)

So, with the parents' consent, you can give Calpol so long as it has been recommended by a doctor, pharmacist, etc. for that child (how you can ever know it has been recommended is anyone's guess, cos Ofsted don't explain.) Never mind.

The guidance document goes on to state:-

"If you already have written permission to give a particular over-the-counter medication to a child, and you need to, you do not have to get written permission every time you give it. However, you may consider it good practice to ask the parent to sign the written record, which you must complete, to confirm that you have told them that you gave the agreed medication. This will allow you to prove you have let parents know that you gave the medication, as shown in the Statutory Framework."

In summary, to stay within the regulatory requirements you must have written consent the first time you give the medicine; it must have been recommended for that child by an appropriate medical professional; and you need to keep a written record of all subsequent occasions on which you give the medicine, whilst informing the parent of the doses asap.

Rambling my way back to the original question: you need the parent's written permission before you first give the Calpol. On subsequent days, I'd check verbally that the parent still wants you to give it. Record all the doses on a new slip each day, but the parent doesn't necessarily need to sign this until they collect. That's because they are no longer signing to give advance permission; they are merely signing to say that you've informed them of the doses.

:phew: - does that help?

[Tinkerbell1979]

Fantastic thank you very much x