Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce Kitt Medical packs into state schools to treat extreme anaphylaxis in children with life-threatening allergies.
The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 allows schools across the United Kingdom, including independent schools, to buy and hold spare adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without the need for a prescription to treat anaphylaxis in schools in emergency situations where a pupil’s own prescribed device is either not working correctly, or is otherwise unavailable.
We published guidance on supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools in December 2017. Information on support for pupils at risk of anaphylaxis is covered within Annex B of this guidance.
The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities through a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on providing AAI devices to schools, on the basis of local needs and priorities.