TEACHERS at two special needs schools in Greater Manchester are having to hand out potentially dangerous drugs to pupils because of a chronic shortage of qualified nursing staff.

Andrew Foord, head teacher at one of the schools, has condemned the situation as a "disgrace" and has called for urgent action.

Mr Foord said in a letter to town hall bosses that his staff at Cromwell High School, in Dukinfield, Tameside, are having to administer valium to pupils suffering from epileptic attacks. An overdose of valium can be fatal.

Children suffering from mental and physical disabilities are being given treatment for stomach ulcers, tracheotomy, diabetes and extreme muscle and spinal problems. Teachers have also had to administer suppositories.

He said the crisis, which has developed over the last 18 months, is also being experienced at nearby Oakdale Primary School.

In the three-page letter, Mr Foord condemned the level of health care provided by Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust.

He decided to speak out after a survey by the two schools revealed an alarming lack of health care provision compared with other special needs schools across Greater Manchester.

Mr Foord said in the letter: "The levels of service provided by the primary care trust are a disgrace.

"This may be undiplomatic language but, given the gravity of the situation, no other word will suffice. The lack of provision flies in the face of the Children's Bill, the National Children's Framework, Children's Centres and Full Service Schools and, above all, the need of our pupils."

He added: "We all feel that the health and progress of our pupils is being seriously compromised.

"There is no other school (in the survey) where every indicator of provision is so far below the national average and no other school without substantive amount of on-site qualified nursing support. It is only the Tameside schools that this applies to.

"I believe the figures show that this situation is not wholly, or even mainly, due to national problems in training and recruitment. It is not due to regional factors. It is specific to Tameside Primary Care Trust."

Coping

Mr Foord added today: "My staff cope very well under the circumstances and any health related tasks they do, they do on a voluntary basis out of professional care for the children."

Many of the pupils suffer from severe learning difficulties (SLD), profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) and other complex learning difficulties, as well as severe health problems.

The survey - which looked at eight main areas of health care - was carried out with the support of eight other special needs schools from the Bury, Stockport, Trafford, Salford and Manchester areas.

Where some schools provided as many as 72 hours of on-site qualified nursing, Cromwell and Oakdale provided none.

And while the other schools provided an average of 163 hours of health care across the eight services, Cromwell provided only 12 hours in total and Oakdale barely 41 hours.

Mr Foord and Oakdale headteacher Irene Howard are demanding that more resources be provided, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, paediatrics, speech and language therapy and general nursing.

Julian Hartley, chief executive of Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust told the M.E.N. that a senior nurse would be employed "in a matter of weeks" to work with the two schools and that everything was being done to resolve an "unacceptable" situation.

He said the problems were due to a short-term staffing crisis.

Commitment

He added: "Like them, we are extremely concerned to make sure we get the health provision for these children right.

"I have given a commitment to tackle the problem and try to resolve the situation quickly.It is a high priority for us."

Coun John Bell, chairman of Tameside's Personal and Health Services Scrutiny Panel, branded the situation as "scandalous".

He said: "There could be dangerous implications.Surely it is not for the teachers to do this sort of work?

"I know that pastoral care is very important in these schools but this should not be their job and we view it with deep concern."

Coun Joe Kitchen, who has responsibility for education at Tameside council, said: "We are concerned that the PCT is not putting enough resources into nursing in these schools. The ideal is that they get their act together."

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