Our primary goal is to protect the health of all children in our care, our staff, and our families. We maintain a duty to minimize the spread of infection to ensure a safe environment and to maintain the stability of our service.

Parental responsibility

We work in close partnership with parents to maintain a healthy environment. To achieve this, we rely on transparent communication regarding any health concerns within the home.

• Duty to inform: Parents must notify us immediately if their child, or anyone in their household, has an infectious illness or has recently been in contact with one.
• Fees and attendance: If a child is excluded due to illness, fees remain payable in full to reserve their space. However, no fees apply if the setting closes due to childminder illness.
• Honesty policy: To protect the setting, parents must not administer fever-masking medication (such as Calpol) to send an unwell child to our care.

Exclusion periods and reportable diseases

We adhere to national health guidelines and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance regarding illness-related absences.

• Common illnesses: Please refer to the Illness Exclusion Table in your Parent Welcome Pack for specific timelines (for example, a 48-hour exclusion for sickness or diarrhoea).
• Communicable diseases: We maintain a list of Notifiable Diseases (such as Measles, Mumps, or Whooping Cough) that must be reported to the relevant authorities.

Procedure for ill children in our care

If a child becomes ill while at the setting, we follow these steps to ensure their comfort and the safety of the group:

1. Isolation and comfort: The child will be moved to a quiet, comfortable area away from other children to minimize the spread of infection.
2. Emotional well-being: We provide one-to-one reassurance and quiet activities until the child is collected.
3. Parental contact: We will phone parents immediately. Parents are expected to collect their child as a priority, ideally within one hour.
4. Hygiene: We use a 'sick kit' for immediate cleaning and will increase handwashing and surface disinfection throughout the setting.

Record keeping and communication

Accurate documentation is vital for monitoring the health of the setting. We record all instances of infectious illness, including advice received from health professionals and actions taken. We also maintain logs of verbal communications with parents and can signpost families to further advice via NHS 111 or the UKHSA.

Staff responsibility

As lead practitioners, we hold ourselves to the same high standards of health and hygiene expected of our families. We will inform parents if we have been in contact with an infectious illness that may impact the setting. If we are too unwell to provide safe care, the setting will close, and we will notify parents as early as possible (ideally by 7:00 am).

Pandemic and emergency contingency

In the event of a significant health crisis, we follow all government and Local Authority mandates regarding closures and enhanced cleaning. In the event of a serious incident or emergency, we will contact Emergency Services immediately and notify the required regulatory bodies, including Ofsted and the UKHSA.