Untrained and unsupported school staff are being "increasingly pressured" into caring for children with complex health needs, research has claimed.
Support staff report being asked to administer medicines to students or care for children with long-term conditions such as epilepsy or anaphylaxis without, in some instances, any training at all.
The study of 2,300 support staff and school nurses by UNISON and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) found that nearly one in five support staff, including teaching assistants, feel “forced" to take on the responsibility for administering medicines of healthcare procedures as they “do not want to let children down".
The survey finds “many examples" of good practice, but also reports that 28 per cent of support staff do not feel comfortable or competent administering to pupils prescribed medicine or supporting health needs.
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