school rules gone mad

I think that some insulin can be kept outside of a fridge for certain amounts of time, just not stored long term outside of a fridge. This has to be because people have to carry their insulin around with them sometimes. Not saying, however, that this makes the issue less complicated. What happens, for example if the child self medicates and another child [children being what they are] gets their hands on the insulin instead? When I worked at a school for a short time you couldn't even cuddle a child if they'd fallen over and hurt themselves as someone had complained about their child being 'touched' .

I think they are being unreasonable. However they will have to go though their proceedures.
I would not think they could refuse. All schools are supposed to be inclusive of disabilities and various health conditions.

I am sure the lad could learn to do it himself and as long as the injection is properly stored and kept safe there should be no problem.

Ideally a peripatetic medically trained person could be employed for such work by local council, but in practice how many councils have funding for that sort of thing? It's a political issue.

Ok, I accept that but just what happens if there isn't a family member able to commit to doing it (could be working full time etc) or the child unable to do it? And if the child can self-inject, where do they store the insulin etc - I thought cool bags were used, not school fridges?
Is the child effectively excluded from school?

A friend of mine had this problem with her son. It meant she had to go into school each day to give him his injection. Since she lived near the school and worked at home this was do-able for her.

Then, when the school set up a trip to France for the pupils, she had to go with them if he went.

The problem for the headteacher, which I fully understand, is that their insurance did not cover them should anything have gone wrong. They felt they couldn't put themselves at risk however much they wanted to help the child.

This is the same judgement anyone outside of the medical profession giving direct medical or health related help to someone else has to make: you are always advised not to put yourself at risk of repercussions should you do something wrong by mistake or should your actions put you yourself in danger.

And then there are all the safety issues anya has outlined. I don't think the school is being unreasonable. They just want to be sure they are 'covered' should something go wrong. They have to make sure of this. It's their job and they would not be doing their job properly if they didn't seek legal advice when they asked to take on this kind of extra responsibility.

Guidelines

Before you jump in at the deep end, stop and think. There are issues to be considered such as where the insulin is to be stored, safely. It can hardly be stuck in the staff room fridge and where will the injections be given, away from curious eyes, so the child's feelings are spared.

Read these Guidelines and then, I hope, your family will work with the school on resolving this issue.

I don't have any experience but I wonder what your Council's policy is? It might be worthwhile contacting the Education and Children and Families teams to ask them.

Would his Consultant and GP intervene?

They are trying to exclude a child on medical grounds, without justification especially when the Diabetes Team has trained the staff. Is it the Governors kicking off or the admin staff -if the former then perhaps the Diabetes Team could discuss with the Chair?

I'd also write a strongly worded letter to the Chair of Governors and copy it to the Head of Education at the Council.

Our local village school has three children with diabetes, no problem at all according to a friend who teaches there. We were only discussing it yesterday.

The school is taking legal advice, so I'd wait and see what the outcome is. The school is not being awkward and this is NOT unusual despite what your 'Diabetes Team' say. There have been too many parents who have brought legal actions against schools, when for example, teachers or support staff have simply applied a plaster to a wound, and the child has had a reaction. And this was pre 1998 when I left the classroom.

Your options, until the legal advice is given, is to have a family member go into school and give the injections in the interim. I've known children as young as 7 give themselves their own injections, under supervision. These days the ampules are pre-loaded with the correct dosage, as you will know.