Plans to publish guidance for schools supporting children with medical conditions will now be published “later in the Spring”, it has emerged.
Helen Hayes, the chair of the all-party Commons Education Select Committee wrote to the Department for Education (DfE) in December warning there was a “a lack of clarity around the delegation of responsibility”.
In the letter, addressed to Georgia Gould, the schools minister, she said concerns emerged from the select committee’s inquiry into the SEND system last year, and cited the absence of a framework for delivering clinical healthcare in educational settings.
In a response to the committee, Gould said the DfE would share draft updated non-statutory guidance with stakeholders shortly, with a final version coming out “later in the Spring”. Her predecessor, Catherine McKinnell, told the select committee hearing last year that guidance would be published in autumn 2025.
A joint approach
The minister said the guidance was being drafted jointly with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England and would “clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of healthcare professionals, local authorities and education providers”.
She added: “The process has been lengthy, given the complexity of the issues, the need for legal scrutiny and the complexity of the issues which have been raised with us”.
Gould added that the government planned to consult separately on revised statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions.
“This will set out clear expectations for how schools should fulfil their statutory duties and deliver a culture where pupils with medical conditions (including allergy) are not only supported but fully included in school life,” her letter states.
During select a committee hearing last year, Hayes raised concerns that the existing SEND Code of Practice and government guidance did not address the question of “the delegation of medical support” to school staff.
“This is a situation that potentially leaves both pupils and school staff extremely exposed because there are unqualified staff delivering medical support in school settings, and that is a situation that is unacceptable,” she said.
