Medical Care

About our Service

The School Medical Centre, St. Andrew’s Lodge, is staffed during term time by a team of registered nurses, a paramedic, first aiders and counsellors. You can contact our medical team on: 01749 834260 / st.andrewslodge@wells.cathedral.school

Notes for parents

• When your child is away from School, please inform the School Medical Team as soon as possible in the event of the following:

• They have been seen by a family doctor or specialist

• They have been exposed to an infectious illness, tropical disease or malaria (you need to report this before he or she returns to School)

• Pupils must not bring medication or drugs into School for their personal use unless prescribed by a doctor and with the knowledge of the Medical Centre. All medicines must be handed immediately to the House Matron. All Matrons and House staff can provide the following ‘over the counter’ remedies which they administer following a protocol:

• Paracetamol for pain and fever

• Sudafed for nasal congestion

• Bonjela for mouth ulcers

• Cetirizine for allergy relief

• Pupils do not hold a supply of their own medication without an assessment of safety by the Medical Team and Matron

• Parents should be aware that some medications prescribed overseas may not be licensed for use in the UK. In this case, the School Doctor will make an individual case assessment and offer a UK licensed alternative where appropriate. It is very important in such cases that as much medical information as possible is available to the School Doctor. If important information is not shared, this could result in the child being deemed ‘unfit for boarding’ in line with our School policies

• Controlled medicines, such as those prescribed for ADHD and associated conditions, must be held in accordance with Home Office and Department of Health legal guidelines. House staff have the appropriate storage facilities and training to store and administer this medication in House, but the School Doctor must approve this on a case-bycase basis

• Private physiotherapy can be arranged through the Medical Centre

• All pupils have access to the School counsellors

• Parents will be informed at the time of referral of any specialist appointments or other medical investigations arranged for pupils. The Finance Department deals with bills arising from private consultations. Please send details of any private health insurance for your child. An accompanying adult will provide escort for any appointments arranged offsite if parents aren’t available (there is an additional fee for this service, which is added to the school bill). Older pupils may not require an escort

• Whilst every endeavour will be made to contact parents in an emergency, the Deputy Head acting in loco parentis or a member of the School staff has the authority to give permission for urgent medical and/or surgical procedures to be carried out, including the administration of a general anaesthetic. It is important that parents leave an emergency contact number with House staff if they are away from home for any reason

• If you have any medical concerns about the health of your child, please discuss it with the Medical Team; we welcome communication with parents

• If your child is treated for asthma, epilepsy, anaphylaxis, diabetes, cancer or has a history of significant allergy, we feel it is important that staff are alerted to this. The diagnosis will appear on your child’s school electronic record; any further details are given only with the consent of yourself or the child.

Overseas Boarders

For those boarders who live abroad, a guardian will need to be appointed with whom a pupil can stay if unwell in certain circumstances. All boarders are registered with our local GP surgery who is responsible for their care. Please see our Boarding Handbook for more information.

Confidentiality

All medical information about pupils is confidential, whatever their age. Consultations with the School Counsellor are similarly confidential. On occasion, it may be necessary for the Medical Centre staff or the Counsellor to share information with parents, House staff and academic staff where the safety of a pupil or of other pupils may be compromised, or where there is a statutory duty to report. Ideally, this will be with the pupil’s prior consent, but there may be rare occasions when the School Doctor, Nurse and/or Counsellor considers that it is in the pupil’s better interests, or necessary for the protection of the wider school community, to divulge relevant information.

Physiotherapy

Our physio clinic, run by Central Somerset Physio, can help you with:

• Postural work for musicians

• Pain from playing an instrument

• Avoiding pain with your music practice

• Back or neck pain

• Sports injuries

• Sports injury prevention

• Knee pain

• Headaches

• Sports massages.

The initial consultation lasts 45 minutes and costs £40. Follow up visits are 30 minutes and cost £35. Please contact St. Andrew’s Lodge Medical Centre to book an appointment.

Special Dietary Requirements

Special dietary requirements, including food intolerances and allergies, are catered for by our professional catering team to ensure every child has the benefit of a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet. In addition, our policies ensure the School site is as nutfree as possible. Please be sure to specify any allergies on our Medical Form as detailed below.

Medical Forms

We need a completed medical form for all pupils. In addition, boarders will need to fill out the GP registration form. Both forms can be found on our website.

Please note that more medical information for boarders can be found in our Boarding Handbook.