Healthcare Access at School is provided by Canberra Health Services in partnership with the Education Directorate.
Students are individually assessed by a registered nurse and supported by trained school staff who may work in the classroom with the child, who knows them well, can go on excursions with them and is individually trained to recognise a problem and what to do if needed.
How does the program work?
When a referral is received the registered nurse will first assess the students health care needs to determine their eligibility for the Healthcare Access at School program. Eligibility is declined if a student’s health needs can be safely met by the school through a Known Medical Condition Response Plan. If this is the case the registered nurse will contact you to talk about this in more detail.
For eligible students the registered nurse will develop a Healthcare Access at School individual health care plan in collaboration with the family. The registered nurse will then discuss with you what is outlined in the Healthcare Access at School Individual Careplan including the logistics of supporting the student at school, provide instruction to nominated staff members and ensure they have the competence and confidence to undertake the procedure safely and provide ongoing support for both the school and family.
How long will it take from referral to the student attending school with support?
In most cases there will be a time delay between the referral and the student being able to safely attend school with support.
The family will be informed of this time delay in writing by us. While the Individual Careplan is being developed and school staff trained, the family can choose to:
- attend school to complete the task/s, or
- keep their child at home until support is finalised.
The parent is asked to inform your school of their choice as to how they wish to proceed until support is finalised.
Do schools need to refer new students if they already have a student with similar health needs at the school?
Yes. All students with complex or invasive health care needs need to be assessed, even if these needs appear similar to a student already at your school.
What are ‘levels of care'?
The three levels of care that may be provided for a student are:
- Intermittent: we provide intermittent health care tasks to nominated students. They may attend to education duties in between tasks.
- One to one: theLSA is required to attend to one nominated student only. They are not responsible for any other classroom functions other than supporting their assigned student and cannot be left in the classroom as the only adult supervising the class.
- The LSA may assist with education activities for this student (only). 3. Registered Nurse: This is the highest level of care and requires a registered nurse to attend to the nominated HAAS student for the activities outlined on the HAAS Individual careplan while they are at school. The registered nurse does not undertake any education duties at the school.
The student will be encouraged to take increasing responsibility, in line with their age and stage of development, for self-management of their health and personal care needs. As the student gains greater autonomy for their health care the level of care assigned to them may be reassessed and reassigned by the registered nurse. This may include being ‘stepped down’, for example if one on one care is no longer necessary. If a student’s health needs increase their care may be ‘stepped up’ and moved from intermittent to one on one care.
In situations where students no longer require support, we will work with you to transition the student. The registered nurse will keep the Principal informed of the initial level of care assigned and if any changes, either increased or decreased, are made.
How do I choose an LSA?
The Education Directorate have developed a Healthcare Access At School Implementation Guide, which provides you with information to support all aspects of employment arrangements.
Training LSA's
The registered nurse will inform the Principal or delegate of the estimated length of time required for training. Time required is based on the individual need of the student, complexity of procedures and prior knowledge of the LSA. A day, time and suitable location for training nominated LSA’s will then be negotiated.
If an LSA is not demonstrating competence the registered nurse will notify the Principal and offer further training, assessment and support. If further training and support is not successful or the LSA chooses not to proceed in the role, the Principal will be informed and a new LSA identified and trained if needed. A copy of the competency certificate and assessment for each trained and assessed LSA is retained by the LSA and us.
What if no trained LSA is available on a given day?
The suite of documents that are kept at the school includes a communication pathway that outlines who to contact in what circumstances and on what phone number. When developing the communication pathway, the registered nurse will discuss with the parent/carer the options if a trained LSA is unavailable. These are:
- the parent/carer attending school to complete the task/s (which may be as simple as going in at lunch for half an hour or it may involve a full day)
- the parent/carer choosing to keep the student home for the day
The parent/carer signs the Individual Care Plan to signify they are in agreement with the content, including the communication pathway. If all trained LSA’s are absent school staff will inform the parent/carer and implement the action listed on the communication pathway.
