Childhood Illness Policy

This policy has been devised to ensure that children who become unwell at nursery are treated sensitively and with respect. It also helps us to help us to protect other children and staff from illnesses and the spread of infection.

If a child requires medicine, we will obtain information about the child’s needs to this (see Administration of Medication Policy)

The Manager is not allowed to admit any children onto the premises who appear to be suffering from an infectious or contagious illness or disease. Truly Scrumptious Early Years Nursery follows the guidance from the UK Health Security Agency, however we do reserve the right to refuse children into nursery if they have an illness that is contagious and will have an impact on the well-being of the rest of the children and staff.

Please do not bring children who are unwell into the nursery as they will be sent home upon arrival. This includes Children that have had Calpol before entering the premises as this could mask symptoms of an illness or infectious diseases.

Parents/carers are required to inform the nursery where they can be reached in the event of an accident/sudden illness. When parents are co-parenting or parallel parenting, both parents will be called simultaneously, However, on occasions it may be impossible to contact a parent/carer in an emergency, we will make every effort to contact the next named person and so on until we have made contact, failing this, parents/carers are required to provide the Manager with signed permission for the setting to act in their absence.

If a child becomes seriously ill or injured during his/her attendance at the nursery, the nursery reserves the right to call for emergency assistance and, if necessary, remove him/her to hospital and give permission for emergency treatment to be administered. If we must take your child to hospital because of an illness or accident, we will do our utmost to inform you immediately (using the details on your Application Form). It is therefore vital that this information is kept up to date and that you inform us of your timetable/whereabouts. Please inform the Manager of any changes to these details as soon as possible. Please inform us as soon as possible if your child will be absent for a long period due to illness.

Local Authority regulations state that parents/carers are required to give the following information to the Manager: name, address, and date of birth of each child; name, home address and place of work with respective telephone numbers of the parents/carers of each child. We ask that a copy of the parent/carers current timetable should be left with the Manager to ensure that contact can be made in an emergency); name, address and telephone number of each child’s doctor and the state of immunisation and infectious diseases suffered by each child.

All accidents are reported in an Accident Report which is kept in the Nursery Office.

Parents/carers will be notified of any accidents via an accident/ incident form, these are evaluated at the end of each month. Parents / careers are required to sign a copy of the report upon handover and will be given a copy to keep.

Please ensure you taken follow precautions: –

If your child is unwell, please read the following guidance and seek treatment where necessary or keep your child off nursery (please call nursery to advise length of absence).

There are no exceptions to the exclusion period and any parent attempting to return their child to nursery will be advised as such. If a parent persists and leaves their child within the exclusion period, the nursery will contact the HPA and Local Authority who will notify Social Services.

If you suspect a child has a temperature the following steps must be followed:

Take the child’s temperature using the head scanner / in ear thermometer.

Notify parent of temperature

Record the temperature on a monitoring form.

Attempt to reduce body temperature slowly – removing excess layers of clothing, opening a window, etc.

Ensure the child is drinking water.

As a rule, a temperature in children under 5 over 38oC is a fever.

The child’s temperature should be taken in regular intervals if displaying signs of being unwell. If the temperature is 38oC or above, parents will be asked to come and collect the child.

High temperatures can be extremely dangerous and cause convulsions.

In emergency cases the manager will seek advice from a medical professional (111 or pharmacist) to authorise administering emergency Calpol to reduce a high fever when children become very poorly, this is dependent of the parents’ given permission and agreeing to collect their child immediately.

Transporting children to hospital- Procedure

If a child becomes extremely unwell and, in an emergency, it is our procedure to call for an ambulance immediately. Parents will be contacted straight away, and arrangements will be made to meet the parents at the hospital or at the nursery if they are close enough to reach the nursery in time.

If a parent is not able to get to the nursery in time for the ambulance to transport the child to hospital, a senior management will accompany the child and collect registration forms, relevant medication sheets, medication, and any other items the child may need.

Febrile Convulsions, anaphylactic shock and other fit or seizure

If a child has any of the above an ambulance must be called immediately and the same steps taken as above.

Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency that may require resuscitation measures. Administration of epinephrine – auto-injector (EPI PEN) may be necessary.

Sickness and Diarrhoea

Sickness and diarrhoea are some of the easiest illnesses to spread between children and adults, the exclusion period must be at least 48 hours after the LAST bought NOT from the onset.

If children or staff have intolerance’s or allergies such as milk or to egg and have diarrhoea or sickness due to eating something they should not have, this will still be treated with the same exclusion period and children and staff will be refused entry to the setting as an extra precaution to prevent the risk of an outbreak.

When children who have intolerance’s have been advised to reintroduce certain foods using the food ladders, this will need to be confirmed in writing from the GP or a Dietitian. Parents/ careers are encouraged to keep staff informed when they are starting the food ladders with at least 1 weeks’ notice and then maintain regular updates on how this is affecting the child. The staff at Truly Scrumptious will also document any changes to bowel movements or the child’s health within the setting during this time. If the child attends the setting during an outbreak and has sickness or diarrhoea and staff have not been made aware with at least 1 weeks’ notice of foods being reintroduced the 48-exclusion period will need to be followed.

COVID-19

It is the parent / career’s responsibility to be open and honest with the setting and keep your child at home if they have tested positive. The child must be kept off for 3 days from the test date.

THIS POLICY WAS REVIEWED BY Hayley Binion – Manager 29/11/2023