|

Schools (Health Support) Bill

Schools (Health Support) Bill, Jim Cunningham's Private Member's Bill

8 May 2009

It has been a pleasure to witness the Bill that was considered before mine and deals with energy, energy supply and the environment receive a Second Reading. However, that is not my brief today.

I have had fruitful discussions with the Under-Secretary about this Bill and I have received reassurances, which I hope she will reiterate today. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs. Miller), the Opposition spokesman, with whom I had discussions. I was treated very courteously and, with some reservations, she is sympathetic to the measure.

Nobody should interpret the Bill as an attack on education policies, teachers, head teachers and the staff who assist teachers or the medical profession. It should be seen as a way of tackling some of the concerns and problems that some children experience at school. I recognise from what the Under-Secretary has told me that much progress has been made, and I do not want to detract from that. Indeed, I am probably the last person who would want to do that.

Nevertheless, it is worth highlighting some of the problems that some children experience. I appreciate that the subject is broad, especially when we consider some of the illnesses and disabilities that many children experience. I have had quite a bit of co-operation from the Liberal Democrats. The other day, I attended a meeting of the all-party group on diabetes. Many parents were at that meeting. I listened not only to them, but to the children, and I heard about the problems that they were experiencing as a result of illnesses and disability, and equally about the concerns of the parents, who sometimes clash with the authorities over what their priorities are. For example, the education authority could have a totally different priority from, say, the health authority. There are certain elements in my Bill that would bring such authorities together.

The Prime Minister has had some difficulties this week, but he agreed at very short notice to meet one or two parents and some of the children. That is a side of the Prime Minister that the public do not often see. I am sure that the parents and the children appreciated the fact that he was taking an interest. In fact, if the House wants to know, he said to me, "Even Obama's interested in this health area."

Nevertheless, we need to get on. I am grateful for the opportunity to bring the issue of health support in schools before the House. I hope that the Bill will provide the impetus for those in all parts of the House to realise the importance of decent support for all children with long-term health conditions in schools. I hope that the Bill will enable the House to do something about that. My Bill would amend the Education and Inspections Act 2006, establish standards in schools for the support of children with specified health conditions and make provision for the inspection of such support. The 2006 Act places a duty on schools to promote pupil well-being. However, as it does not explicitly refer to the support of children with health conditions, their needs are not being met in many schools. Local authorities, primary care trusts and schools must work in partnership to ensure that all children receive the appropriate support that they need to live a full school life.

Let me pay tribute at the outset to the many organisations that support the Bill—in fact, some of them are represented in the Gallery. Their expertise has been crucial in bringing the Bill to the House. I am going to read their names out, because the public and the House do not always see the tremendous effort or the hours that they put in, sometimes voluntarily, in this case for the welfare of our school children. Those organisations include the Anaphylaxis Campaign, Asthma UK, the British Heart Foundation, the Children and Young People HIV Network, CLIC Sargent, Coeliac UK, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Diabetes UK, Epilepsy Action, Input, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy, National Voices, the Royal College of Nursing, TreeHouse, Scope, Sickle Cell and Young Stroke Survivors, the Stroke Association, the UK Children with Diabetes Advocacy Group, Vision 2020 UK and YoungMinds. In addition, I would like to express my appreciation for the hard work that my staff have done on the Bill, along with the organisations that I have named. They have shown tireless dedication to the cause and I appreciate their help.

I recently met a young constituent who was at Westminster as part of a lobby of Parliament by a leading health charity, Diabetes UK, on behalf of children. That lively young man enjoys, for the most part, a successful and fulfilling life at school, despite the challenge that type 1 diabetes poses. My constituent's condition is well matched by a caring and well-informed family, excellent support from a local GP and outstanding care from the diabetes unit at the local hospital in Coventry. I do not doubt that the House is unanimous in its admiration for the thousands of medical professionals and families, such as those I have referred to, who support children with long-term health conditions across the UK.

That determined young man does not allow his condition to obstruct his education. My constituent and his family face the test of ensuring that the consistency with which they and their medical team treat his condition is matched by his school's aspiration to ensure, in a holistic sense, that his educational well-being is guaranteed. In expressing that concern, I intend no criticism of my constituent's school, as I think I have made clear. Chief among the school's aspirations is excellence in primary education, and I hope that the House will join me in commending it and its peers for their unswerving desire to achieve that standard, which it reaches and surpasses.

I want to underline, however, that while many schools do provide excellent medical support for children with long-term conditions, that standard is not universally upheld. There is every reason to change that. I believe that the Government are genuine in their use of the maxim Every Child Matters. In an age when many strive for universal equality, it is crucial that Members of this House, and particularly of the Government, ensure that the desire for inclusion places children and young people at the forefront. My Front-Bench colleagues have sought to improve educational attainment and the quality of school life, and they have achieved much in doing so. The Schools (Health Support) Bill is aimed at promoting the universal equality that the whole House strives for, and offers practical steps to allow us to prove that every child matters.

My constituent's struggle to obtain adequate health support is not unique. An estimated 20,000 children under 15 in the UK have type 1 diabetes, 83 per cent. of whom do not have good blood glucose control. In fact, the UK has the lowest number of children attaining good diabetes control in Europe. The struggle is not unique to children with diabetes. Across the UK, more that 1 million children go to school every day while braving the trials of a long-term medical condition. On average, two children in every classroom have asthma, and 57 per cent. of those children and their carers lack the confidence that someone would know what to do if they suffered an attack. A further 12,500 people suffer from sickle cell disease in the UK, yet only two out of the 107 local education authorities surveyed by the Economic and Social Research Council had written policies on the sickle cell disease in schools.

One in 10 children and young people between the ages of five and 16 have diagnosable mental health disorders. Children and young people with a disorder such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—ADHD—or a conduct disorder are more likely to be excluded from school. Exclusion in this context refers not only to physical exclusion but to social exclusion, because poorly managed mental health problems, as with any others, mark children out as different from their peers. In common with children with physical illnesses, many have problems accessing medication on school premises. Children who suffer from sickle cell disease also have an increased risk of experiencing a stroke, potentially at school.

These examples cover just a few conditions, but the problem of finding decent medical support in schools is endemic, and there is a raft of other long-term and chronic illnesses from which children and young people suffer. Decent school health support allays carers' fears about the adequacy of support in the event of an emergency. It also allows children to participate fully in school life, meaning that they do not have to be excluded from activities that their peers take for granted, such as sport or school trips. Decent health support is vital if children are to reach their full potential. Without it, conditions such as diabetes can have an impact on a child's cognitive functions and ability to learn. Decent health support means that inclusion need not be an illusion. For the cost of providing health support training to schools that do not have a policy in place, the benefit is multiplied many times over.

Let us imagine a child who needs to inject insulin up to four times a day, whose school does not have a health support policy in place. If they are unable to inject themselves, someone—a parent or guardian, perhaps—might have to make the journey to school at least once a day.

The parent or carer responsible for injecting the child may not be in employment and this responsibility can create a knock-on effect of financial burden to the whole family and beyond. Furthermore, children who are not supported in the management of their health condition are more likely to suffer from complications that can threaten their lives and place an increased burden on NHS services in primary and secondary care.

Health support in schools should be an integral part of medical support for young people. That is not to say that schools should be required to give comprehensive medical support rather than merely to augment the work done by medics and carers. The Royal College of Nursing advocates the use of school nursing in providing health support. It is simply not possible for a school nurse to be present for the event of any medical emergency or a health incident that might require any degree of support. School nurses have a vital part to play in health support, however, as they provide expertise that teachers cannot be expected to have. Conversely, in terms of health support, it is crucial that they are able to expand their mandate of health education to provide teachers with advice on how to handle situations that long-term conditions can give rise to.

The key element in the provision of health support is ensuring that teachers are able to teach while being aware of the health support that is a critical part of some of their pupils' education. The current voluntary guidance is not working and implementation is patchy: while some schools provide fantastic support, others are failing their most vulnerable students. An explicit requirement is needed, backed up by effective regulation from Ofsted, to ensure that all schools meet the needs of all children with long-term conditions.

In closing, I hope that my Front-Bench colleagues will be able to offer some hope on school support to the charities and campaigners who have worked so tirelessly for this cause. I believe in my Bill. Finally, in response to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson), I point out that there are roughly about 1 million children who, one way or the other, have a difficult medical condition.