Dept of Education on Paediatric First Aid

On 12 March, the Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah announced proposals to make it a requirement that newly qualified early years staff (with a level 2 or level 3 childcare qualification) will have to have a paediatric first aid or emergency paediatric first aid certificate before they can be included in the required adult: child ratios in an early years setting. This proposal will be subject to consultation after the election, but it is expected that this change will take effect from September 2016.  There will also be a new special award – to be known as ‘Millie’s Mark’ – to be displayed by nurseries who have achieved gold-standard paediatric first aid provision.  Early years providers will also be able to take advantage of a scheme previously only open to schools to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at a reduced price. For more information please see the Department of Education press release.