1. Does your child need medication during school hours?
If your child needs to take medication at school, please provide the office staff with:
- a completed and signed Consent to administer medication form;
- the medication in its original labelled container; and
- medical authorisation (e.g. the pharmacy label, or a letter from the doctor, or a completed and signed health action plan).
For further information, please refer to the Information for parents/carers and health practitioners.
If you have any queries, please contact the office via email admin@gattonss.eq.edu.au
2. If my child has to take medication at school, how will the doctor know what paperwork the school needs?
When you next visit your child's doctor (or other health practitioner), you could give them a copy of the Administration of medications in Queensland state schools: Information for parents/carers and health practitioners.
This document explains what advice they need to provide to help the school to safely administer medication to your child.
3. Easy medication packaging
If your child takes tablets or capsules each day, you can ask the pharmacist to pack them individually in sachets, blister packs or bubble packs.
This packaging is known as a 'dose administration aid' (or DAA) and has the pharmacy label instructions as part of the packaging.
When medication is packaged in a DAA it can make it easier for the school to safely store and administer it.
Please note:
- A pill case (e.g. a weekly medication organiser) filled by yourself is not a DAA and is not something the school is approved to use.
- Any refills must also be pharmacy labelled. The school cannot accept tabs/sheets of tablets or individual tablets.
4. Medication safety at school
If your child requires medication at school, there are some things you can do to help.
· Only provide medication that has been medically authorised.
- Check that the medication hasn't expired.
- Provide medication in the pharmacy packaging.
- Hand medication to the school in person (yourself, not via your student).
- Collect unused medication in person (yourself, not via your student).
- Provide a pill-cutter if tablets need to be halved or quartered, or arrange for the pharmacist to package the medication using a dose administration aid.