AQW 17339/22-27


Mr Peter McReynolds
Alliance Party
East Belfast


Tabled Date: 24/10/2024
Answered On Date: 06/11/2024
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any guidance his Department provides for schools to create an Independent Healthcare Plan for children with epilepsy.


Answer:
Children and young people with medical needs, including epilepsy, should have a healthcare plan in place. The responsibility for drawing up a healthcare plan lies with the relevant Allied Healthcare Professional (AHP) involved in the healthcare of the child or young person with epilepsy. The AHP provides a detailed plan which is agreed with the parents and school and can be used as all or part of an individual’s Medication Plan.
Schools have responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that that the needs of pupils with medical needs, including epilepsy, are met.
The department provides the following guidance to support schools “Supporting Pupils with Medication Needs” at https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/support-pupils-medication-needs.
To ensure that school staff have a basic understanding, can recognise symptoms and seek appropriate support, awareness training should be completed. This will help ensure that the needs of pupils can be met. Epilepsy Action provides a free training module for schools. The training required, however, for individual children will be noted in the medication plan. The child and their family should be known to the Paediatric Epilepsy Nursing Specialists team who can provide specific support, if required.
The Education Authority (EA) Special Educational Needs (SEN) Inclusion Service Medical Needs Service operates a central point of contact for schools to support the effective inclusion in schools of children and young people with medical needs, including epilepsy. The service can be contacted at 028 7127 2340 or EAMedicalNeedsSupport@eani.org.uk. Information and signposting to resources and training is also available on the EA’s website Support available to schools for Medical Needs | SEND Plan.