After-school club’s medication care under fire

Staff at an Aberdeenshire after-school club “put children at risk” by paying so little attention to their medication that potentially life-saving pills for one youngster were more than a year out of date.

The Care Inspectorate visited Meldrum After School Klub (Mask), which is attached to the village primary school, in late October and their findings were published yesterday.

While the quality of the environment was “good”, the quality of staffing was rated “adequate” and care, support and management was criticised as “weak”.

It was noted that the manager and staff were “not fully aware of information provided by some parents about their children’s medical conditions”.

The report added that there were “no detailed medication plans in place” for some children, “no record of medication stored on the premises”, and no audits.

“As a result, we found that potentially life-saving medications were a year out of date for one child.

“These practices potentially put children at risk.”

Staff have been told to “take immediate action to review and update systems for managing medication”.

The Care Inspectorate also asked the centre to keep a closer record of children’s progress.

Parent volunteers run the facility, and four new directors are being recruited. Inspectors also praised the environment and activities on offer in the school.