Mum's plea for son's school to keep 'life-saving' nurse

A mother whose 13-year-old son has a serious heart condition has pleaded for nurses to be retained in special schools.

She said it is "life-saving" and "imperative" that her son has a nurse in school.

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is carrying out a review of nursing provision in special schools, which has has led to fears that nurses could be removed from some.

The Department of Health has said its priority "remains to ensure that all children have safe access to education."

Lesley Anderson's son Colin is a pupil at Mitchell House school in east Belfast which has a school nurse.

"He's had three cardiac arrests in his young life," she told BBC News NI.

"I can't even remember the number of ambulances he's had called to school when he's had to be taken off to casualty."

"He's PEG fed which means he has to be fed in school through his stomach and that has to be administered in school."

A percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding tube is a way to give food and medicines directly into the stomach by passing a thin tube through the skin.

Ms Anderson said Colin had other needs that required a school nurse.

"He also has heart medication which has to be administered in school," she said.

"He gets that three times a day, so he needs a nurse."

She said the school nurse was essential for her son and other pupils.

"When you send your child out to school, you send them out with trust that they will come home to you at three o'clock, but they may not," she said.

"Knowing that there's a nurse there to assess those very difficult situations it's a very very fine line, but it's the line that gives families confidence to let their children go to school.

"My message would be leave the nurses in school."

Roz McFeeters, principal of Hill Croft special school in Newtownabbey, County Antrim told the Stormont's Education Committee the proposal that could remove nurses from some special schools "would not be sustainable".

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.

Assembly members heard the 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.

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.

Mr Ward's school, Parkview in Lisburn, has 223 pupils from 3-19 with severe learning difficulties and currently 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.

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".

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.