Individual Healthcare Plans
Schools and education settings have a statutory duty to support pupils with medical conditions. The first step towards this is an effective and deliverable Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs Policy. This clarifies the support pupils with medical needs will access within their school. It should also clarify their process for Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs).
IHPs are different from Education Health Care Plans (EHCP) or Early Help Plans (EHP). But, they do sit alongside these other documents if required. A child or young person may have an IHP and not an EHP or EHCP.
IHPs are a collaborative document. They allow families, healthcare professionals and schools to clarify a child or young person’s medical need. They also consider how to manage that medical need while attending school.
An IHP is important to ensure that your child’s school:
- Knows their everyday care needs
- How to handle a medical emergency with them
- Is providing the right support for a child on an ongoing and consistent basis
All relevant staff should receive copies of and be aware of IHPs. Staff should know the procedures involved and their importance within a setting.
An IHP ensures schools will have the correct information about a medical condition. It also tells schools how it impacts upon the individual child’s needs. This ensures they can keep the child or young person safe and involved in school life.
All children with significant ongoing medical needs should have an IHP or similar document.
Families may be the first point of contact with a school or education setting when sharing medical information or conditions. Maintaining an open dialogue with your child’s school is vital to a successful plan. Schools and families should share relevant information with one another.
Children should be part of the development of their IHP. Parents and carers should encourage and support their child in this.
Your child’s school may ask for consent to contact medical professionals. This is particularly important when supporting pupils with medical needs. Schools sometimes need to clarify information like medications with medical professionals. This may feel like a challenge. But it is vital in schools' safeguarding of pupils and staff, supporting pupils with medical needs.
The information recorded in an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) should include:
- The medical condition, its triggers, signs, symptoms and treatments
- The pupil’s resulting needs, including medication (dose, side-effects and storage) and other treatments
- Specific support for the pupil’s educational, social and emotional needs
- The level of support needed. If appropriate, some children and young people may partly manage their own health needs. Agree this with the child or young person and make it clear within the IHP.
- Who will provide this support, their training needs, expectations of their role and confirmation of skill
- Who in the school needs to be aware of the child’s condition and the support required
- Arrangements for written permission from parents and the headteacher for the administration of medicine. This may be by a member of staff or self-administered by the pupil during school hours.
- Separate arrangements or procedures required for school trips or other school activities e.g. risk assessments
- Some parents/children may raise confidentiality issues. In these cases note the individuals entrusted with information about the child’s condition
- What to do in an emergency, including whom to contact, and contingency arrangements
As a guide for what a basic plan format looks like, see the government’s guidance for supporting pupils with medical conditions at school.
The help a child needs is likely to change as time goes on, so their IHP will need to change to reflect this. At the very least it should be reviewed annually. It must also be reviewed when management of a medical condition changes or the level of care a child needs changes.
