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Union sounds alarm over teachers being forced to perform complex medical procedures
(morningstaronline.co.uk)
Article text:
HEAD teachers in Wales have sounded the alarm over the worrying number of complex medical interventions that staff are having to perform on students.
Nine in 10 (92 per cent) of the school heads surveyed by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) Cymru said they were required to perform procedures in the classroom.
But only a third (33 per cent) of the 339 respondents said they had received sufficient training to help students properly.
The most common interventions concern pupil’s mobility, personal care such as support with using the toilet and administering medication.
Other procedures teachers named by teachers included respiratory and cardiac monitoring, catheter and stoma care, tube feeding, the use of hoists and mental health intervention.
NAHT Cymru blamed “longstanding underfunding and insufficient capacity” in Wales’s school system.
National secretary Laura Doel said: “Insufficient medical provision is leading to a two-tier experience for pupils, with some of the most vulnerable children relying on school staff rather than qualified clinicians for essential care.”
