About the Medical Needs In Schools project
The Medical Needs In Schools (MNIS) project is a collaboration between Oxfordshire Hospital School and Children’s Psychological Medicine (CPM) – Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The driver behind the project is a recognition that children with medical conditions are at higher risk of educational, social, and psychological difficulties and poor inter-agency working is often cited as a factor in contributing to sub-optimal support for this group of children.
Its core aim is to provide training and support for schools across Oxfordshire in managing medical needs within the education environment, in compliance with statutory and best practice guidance. It is hoped that this training will provide a lasting impact on partner schools through helping them to build capacity and develop their pathways, ideas and communication around children with medical needs.
A secondary aim is to pilot a bespoke intervention pathway for children who are unable to access optimal education owing to their medical needs and their associated psychological impact. These children will be able to access a service from CPM which involves direct clinical work, as well as liaison with school and with medical teams if necessary. The aim is to develop, through clinical assessment and excellent multi-disciplinary working, what gold standard joined up care for children with medical needs impacting on education looks like.
To ensure that schools have immediate access to resources, we have created a training site that includes short training videos and downloadable resources. For more information please visit the site directly here or the Free Training for Oxfordshire Schools page on our website.