Back to school: Updating medical records and care plans in September

Welcome back everyone! September has a special energy to it. New faces, new classrooms, new routines... and a very long list of things to get done before the first weeks are over.

In the middle of all of that, it can be easy for medical records to fall further down the to-do list than ideal.

But here is the thing: September is one of the most important moments in the school year to get health information right. New pupils arrive with conditions staff may know nothing about, returning pupils may have had new diagnoses, medication changes, or new treatment plans over the summer. And the staff responsible for supporting them may have changed too.

Getting on top of medical records at the start of term is one of the most helpful things a school can do to keep its pupils safe throughout the terms ahead.

❗ Research has shown that more than one in four children in England will have had a recorded chronic health condition by their 16th birthday.
That is a significant proportion of any school's pupil population, and every one of those pupils needs accurate, up-to-date information on file.

Why September is the right moment

The start of a new academic year provides a natural window to take stock, and it's one of the few moments when reviewing medical information feels manageable rather than reactive. Once the year is underway, changes to records tend to happen in response to incidents rather than in advance of them. September is the chance to get ahead.

Schools will typically be managing several things at once:

👉 New pupils joining with existing medical needs that staff are not yet familiar with

👉 Pupils moving between year groups or key stages, meaning new staff members may now responsible for their care

👉 Changes to diagnoses, medications, or treatment plans that happened during the summer, sometimes without the school being informed

👉 Individual Healthcare Plans that are overdue for review

👉 New staff joining the school may need to understand their responsibilities around pupils with medical conditions

👉 Emergency contact details may have changed over the holidays

Even when a pupil's medical needs have not changed at all, it's still worth checking. A record that was accurate at the end of July may not be accurate in September: Families' and GPs' contact details may now be outdated, consent forms may have expired over the summer holidays, and medication may have run out. 

💡 Good to know: Under the Children and Families Act 2014, schools have a legal duty to support pupils with medical conditions. While that duty does not pause over the summer, the information needed to fulfil it can easily go stale. Even if you've reviewed medical records at the end of the Summer term, a September review is the simplest way to make sure your school starts the year on solid ground.

Reviewing Individual Healthcare Plans

Individual Healthcare Plans are the cornerstone of how schools support pupils with significant medical conditions. They set out what a condition is, how it is managed, what staff need to know, and what to do in an emergency. When they're accurate and accessible, they give staff real confidence, but when they're out of date, they can create real risk.

September is the right time to go through each IHCP and ask:

• Has the pupil's condition or treatment changed since the plan was last updated?
• Has a healthcare professional recommended any changes to the plan?
• Are medication details (including doses, timing, and storage) still correct?
• Do emergency procedures still reflect how the condition is managed?
• Have parents or carers flagged any changes over the summer?
• Are the staff named in the plan still in post and trained?
• Does the plan still reflect how the pupil wants to manage their condition, particularly as older pupils become more independent?

It's also worth considering whether any pupils who did not previously have an IHCP now need one. A diagnosis received in the summer term or a condition that has become more complex may mean a plan is now appropriate where it was not before.

🎯 If your school uses Medical Tracker, you can set automatic review reminders for Individual Healthcare Plans up to four weeks before they are due, so nothing slips through the gaps during the busy month of September. All plans are stored securely and accessible to the right staff members at the right time.

Reviewing medication and medication stocks

Medication checks are one of those jobs that can feel straightforward but throw up more than expected. Over the summer, prescriptions change, inhalers expire, and parents sometimes forget to send in a new supply.

Starting September with a clear picture of what medication is on site and whether it's all in date avoids the kind of scrambles that nobody wants or needs in the first weeks of term.

For each pupil with medication stored at school, check:

• That the medication has not expired
• That prescribed instructions and dosage information are still current
• That emergency medication, such as adrenaline auto-injectors, inhalers, and any condition-specific medication is accessible and in the right location
• That consent and supporting documentation are up-to-date
• That the staff authorised and trained to administer medication are still in post

💡 Good to know: From September 2026, Benedict's Law requires all schools in England to hold at least one spare adrenaline auto-injector on site for emergency use. If you have not already put this in place, now is the time. For more information, you can read our guidance on Benedict's Law.

🎯 Medical Tracker allows you to manage medication stock levels, track expiry dates, and set reminders when supplies need replenishing. For medications brought in by parents or carers, you can send automated reminders when a new supply is needed, so you're never caught short.

Making sure the right people have the right information

Accurate records are only useful if the people who need them can find them quickly and easily. This is particularly important at the start of term, when new staff are still finding their feet and may not know which pupils have significant medical needs yet.

At the start of September, it's worth thinking about:

• Which staff members need access to specific pupil health information: form tutors, PE staff, and cover teachers may all have different needs
• Whether new staff have been briefed on pupils with significant medical conditions/needs before they encounter them in a classroom or on a sports field
• Whether first aiders know how to access emergency health information quickly
• Whether information is available in the locations where it might be needed, not just in the first-aid room, but for outdoor activities, trips, and off-site events
• Whether staff understand their responsibilities around confidentiality: the "who should know what, and why"

In larger schools, this can feel like a significant coordination task. But even a short briefing at the start of term, covering which pupils have significant medical needs, where their IHCPs are stored, and who to contact in an emergency, can make a meaningful difference.

🎯 With Medical Tracker, you can configure exactly which staff members can access which pupil health information. Relevant staff get what they need, when they need it, without sensitive information being shared more widely than necessary.

Revisiting emergency arrangements

September is also a good time to think about what happens when something goes wrong.

Emergency arrangements can drift over time: staff move on, procedures change, and the person who used to know exactly where the adrenaline pens and inhalers were kept has left.

A quick review at the start of term helps make sure everyone is still on the same page.

It is worth checking that staff know:

• Who to contact in a medical emergency, including out-of-hours arrangements for residential trips
• Where emergency medication is stored across the school
• How to access relevant healthcare plans quickly under pressure
• Who is responsible for contacting parents or carers
• What procedures apply for off-site activities such as day trips, sports fixtures, and residentials

It's also a good idea to check whether staff's first-aid qualifications have expired over the summer. The goal is not just to have the right information recorded somewhere. It's to make sure that information can be acted on quickly when it matters most.

💡 Good to know: Regular refresher training helps staff feel confident and prepared, not just in September, but throughout the year. You can book refresher first-aid trainings, as well as allergy and anaphylaxis trainings for your whole school team with our partner, St John's Ambulance.

Keeping parents and carers in the loop

Medical record reviews work best when they are a genuine conversation with families, not just an administrative task.

Parents and carers are usually the first to know when something has changed: a new diagnosis, a medication adjustment, or a change in how their child wants to manage their condition at school.

Schools that make it easy for families to share that information are far better placed to respond appropriately.

At the start of term, schools can:

✅ Send a simple communication asking parents to flag any changes to their child's medical needs, medication, or emergency contacts

✅ Make clear why the request matters, as parents who understand that accurate information helps keep their child safe are more likely to respond

✅ Provide a straightforward way for families to update their information, whether that is a form, an email address, or an in-person conversation

✅ Follow up with families whose responses are outstanding before the first few weeks of term are over

Families may sometimes assume that no news is good news. If nothing has changed, they may not think to get in touch. A proactive reminder from school, framed around pupil safety rather than administrative compliance, may lead to a better response from parents.

A new academic year, a fresh start

September is busy, there is no getting around that. But the schools that take even a few hours at the start of term to review medical records, check medication, brief staff, and reconnect with families are best prepared when something unexpected happens and best placed to support every pupil, every day, throughout the year ahead.

Supporting Resources

September Medical Readiness Checklist (3 Pages PDF)