Principals' fears over 'unsustainable' removal of some special schools nurses

A proposal that could remove nurses from some special schools "would not be sustainable", a principal has said.

Roz McFeeters, of Hill Croft special school in Newtownabbey, County Antrim made the comments to Stormont's Education Committee.

Assembly members heard that the Public Health Agency (PHA) was carrying out a review of nursing provision in special schools.

She said her school, which is in the Northern Trust, had been "crying out for a nurse" for years.

Ms McFeeters and fellow principal Colin Ward, of Parkview School in Lisburn, represented the Special Schools Strategic Leadership Group and were questioned about the review by assembly members.

As nursing staff in special schools are the responsibility of Northern Ireland's five health trusts, special schools in some trust areas currently have school nurses while others do not.

BBC News NI understands the PHA review is examining that disparity, but there are concerns it could lead to the withdrawal of nurses from some schools.

Hill Croft has about 250 pupils, and Ms McFeeters said pupils in 24 of the school's 33 classes needed "medical interventions on a daily basis".

"It is not sustainable within the resource that we have to meet those needs in the longer term," she said.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Lesley Anderson whose son Colin has severe complex medical and special needs and attends a school which has a nurse on site.

She said her son has had three cardiac arrests and the school nurse administers his medication and oxygen should he require it.

Ms Anderson said: "The nurse has a fine line of knowing when Colin is ill and knows when to call an ambulance.

"It is imperative that he has a nurse in school. It is life saving."

She said that teachers are not qualified on medical issues, and her son has a right to schooling and to the right medical care.

She said that if a school nurse was not available, Colin would not be able to attend school.

"We send him to school everyday with the confidence that he will come home at three o'clock. What I know is that there is a nurse there that will do their best if my son collapses or falls ill and they will inform an ambulance and us.

She said that Colin has already had "numerous ambulances in his short school life and been transferred out of school because of it".

Emma Morgan from SEN Reform NI said if school nurses were removed it would be "taking away a child's dignity and perhaps their right to life".

She said: "We need to see stronger leadership on this.

"It is not good enough that we are going to strip away the therapies and medial support for the most vulnerable children in our community."

Parkview School in Lisburn has 223 pupils from 3-19 with severe learning difficulties.

Parkview has a school nurse.

Mr Ward said "because of the complex needs of pupils it would not be sustainable" to lose the school nurse.

"We have multiple children in a class with medical needs and our staff teams are trying to manage and be aware of everyone's issues and needs," he said.

Sinn Féin assembly member Cathy Mason said a special school in her area had its nurse removed.

Committee chairman Nick Mathison of Alliance expressed concerns about the "level of risk" if a special school lost its nurse.

Deputy chairman Pat Sheehan of Sinn Féin said there were other gaps in provision for "speech and language therapists, behaviour therapists".

Mr Ward responded that there were not enough health professionals to fully meet the needs of children in special schools.

"Therapy provision is spread very thinly," he said.

The two principals also said the majority of special schools were "significantly overcrowded".

Mr Ward welcomed the commitment of Education Minister Paul Givan to reforming special educational needs.

He said special schools had been through "a very dark and difficult time".

"We have seen a significant increase in numbers," he said.

"Numbers are just going through the roof and that has led to a real sense of overcrowding.

"We're finding staffrooms and cupboards and corridors to teach children in.

"The expansion in numbers of pupils has led to a real crisis in staffing as well.

"That's an ongoing struggle for us."

Mr Ward said principals spent a large part of their time "managing crises".

"The vast majority of our schools are significantly overcrowded," Ms McFeeters added.

She said that special schools employed "amazing people" but did have trouble recruiting and retaining staff.

"It is a daily struggle for us in our schools to meet the complex medical needs of the pupils in our schools," she said.

A statement from the Department of Health said the health minister was committed to working with the education minister to "ensure that children with additional healthcare needs can safely be supported to attend school and be enabled to achieve their full potential".

It said the chief nursing officer had commissioned the PHA to work in partnership with the Education Authority and other organisations to undertake a comprehensive needs assessment.

"Our priority remains to ensure that all children have safe access to education, supported by the appropriate member of the multidisciplinary team – including nursing – to meet their healthcare needs," the statement added.

"The complexity of the review requires in depth data gathering and stakeholder engagement, which is currently progressing."

It said it anticipated a final report would be delivered to the minister for consideration by the end of May.