Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects joint non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS on how clinical healthcare is delivered in schools to be published.

Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. Further information can be found at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ and https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.

The department and the Department of Health and Social Care will publish guidance on clinical healthcare in schools in due course.