Criterion HS217#

All practicable steps are taken to ensure that children do not come into contact with any person (adult or child) on the premises who is suffering from a disease or condition likely to be passed on to children and likely to have a detrimental effect on them. 

Specifically, any child who becomes unwell while attending the service or receiving out-of-school care is kept at a safe distance from other children (to minimise the spread of infection) and returned to the care of a parent or other person authorised to collect the child without delay. 

⚑ Out-of-school care must not be provided to children who are absent from school due to illness.

Guidance#

How to show you are complying #

You must take steps to minimise the contact of children with any person who has an infectious illness.  Infectious diseases spread from one person to another, through things like:

• coughing or sneezing
• touching someone or something contaminated
• eating or drinking contaminated food or water
• body secretions. 

To make safe and informed decisions, you need to understand the details in Schedule 1, such as how diseases spread, their symptoms, how long they take to appear, and how long someone should stay away from the service.

Schedule 1 Infectious diseases 

When an infectious illness appears to be affecting many children or adults, you should contact your regional public health service for information and advice. 

What to do if children become ill while at your service

• When a child becomes unwell while at a home that is not their own, it’s essential they are collected without delay to minimise the risk to others. If there are out-of-school care children in the home, a similar process is required so they can be isolated from other children and collected as soon as possible.
• To enable timely contact, it is vital to have up-to-date contact information for the parents on children’s enrolment records.
• If a child is unwell and cannot be collected immediately, the educator must keep them separated from others.
• Engage the other children in an activity positioned as far away as practical, while still allowing the educator to supervise the unwell child.
• If the educator is at the child’s home, the child may just want to be tucked into their usual bed.
• The educator should monitor the child’s condition. If the child’s health appears to be deteriorating, seek medical attention. If they become seriously ill, obtain medical assistance immediately.
• If you are not sure, but think the illness may be infectious, contact the National Public Health Service for information and advice. 
  Public Health Services
• The child or adult should be excluded as per the infectious illness guidance in Schedule 1.
  Schedule 1 Infectious diseases 

What happens if the educator becomes ill

If an educator is looking after children, they should notify the person responsible (Visiting teacher or Coordinator) so that the educator can be removed from contact with children.

It may be possible to offer an alternative educator / home in consultation with parents as an alternative. Educator unavailability and any alternative care arrangements will need to be documented to meet the requirements of the ECE Funding Handbook or sent home.