Making sure children with health conditions get the support they need
Making sure children with health conditions get the support they need
The Health Conditions in Schools Alliance (HCSA) is a coalition of over 25 organisations, including charities, healthcare professional groups and trade unions who work together to ensure children with health conditions receive the support they need to thrive in school. Initially focused on England, we recently merged with our sister coalition the Care in Schools Alliance in Wales and have a workstream directed at influencing policy in Wales. We are here to provide guidance and tools to schools, parents and carers supporting children with health needs in educational settings. You can find further details of our members on our Contact page.
On our resources page you can also:
The Health Conditions in Schools Alliance (HCSA), was formed with a shared purpose: to ensure that children with health conditions are properly supported in school.
Working alongside many committed parents and carers, the HCSA successfully campaigned for a vital change to the Children and Families Act 2014. As a result, a new legal duty was introduced, requiring schools in England to support pupils with medical conditions.
The legal duty is backed by statutory guidance from the Department of Education, which schools in England must follow.
• Download the Department for Education’s statutory guidance about the support that pupils with medical conditions should receive at school in England.
• Download the 'Supporting learners with healthcare needs' guidance about the support that pupils with medical conditions should receive at school in Wales.
The HCSA continues to work to ensure that children with health conditions in England receive the support they deserve at school. Our focus remains on improving the inconsistent implementation of existing legal duties and statutory guidance.
For more detail on our work, please visit the ‘Our Work’ page.
We believe that all children with health conditions should be well supported and able to flourish in school. Good care is built on strong foundations, and these are the key elements we believe every school should have in place:
Medical conditions policy
All schools should have a medical conditions policy in place that is:
• Published on the school website and easily accessible to staff and families
• Reviewed regularly
• Designed to ensure that children with medical conditions can access and enjoy the same opportunities as any other pupil
It should outline arrangements which should be in place to ensure that children with medical conditions can access and enjoy the same opportunities as any other child, and take into account how a young person’s condition might affect their learning.
The school’s policy should set out what constitutes unacceptable practice, for example:
• Preventing a child from accessing their medication or medical technology
• Requiring/expecting parents to come into school or accompany their child on school trips
• Penalising a child for absences related to their health condition
You can find a template Medical Conditions policy on our Resources page.
Individual healthcare plans (IHPs)
We believe that all children who are diagnosed with a long-term medical condition are entitled to an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP), and call for these to be mandatory part of school support.An IHP should clearly outline:
• What needs to be done, when, and by whom
• Emergency procedures and contacts
• How to support a learner’s educational, social, and emotional support needs
You can find a template Medical Conditions policy on our Resources page.
Meaningful collaboration between with pupils, families and healthcare teams
Effective support depends on a strong collaboration between pupils, families, schools and healthcare teams.This should include:
• Involving the child and young person in planning their support.
• Maintaining regular, open communication with parents and carers
• Regularly liaising with:
o Designated school staff with responsible for medical needs,
o School Nurses and Medical and Clinical Officers, where applicable
o External healthcare professionals, such as GPs, paediatricians, and specialist nurses, particularly for training and care planning.