Turn GOV.UK and BSACI Guidance Into a Nursery Allergy Policy Checklist

A nursery allergy policy must identify every child with a known allergy, hold an Individual Healthcare Plan with a current photo and in-date medication, train all staff in recognition and adrenaline auto-injector use, and be published and reviewed regularly. Gov sets the expectation for schools and early years settings, while BSACI action plans give the clinical template most GPs and allergy clinics already use.

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TL;DR:

• Nurseries must identify children with allergies, hold current healthcare and allergy plans, and regularly review policies and incident logs.
• Staff require annual allergy awareness training, emergency response readiness, and responsibility allocation for medication checks and allergy management.
• Preventive routines include allergen checks, separate food prep, handwashing, and risk assessments for trips and activities, with auto-injectors stored securely.
• Immediate adrenaline administration is critical during reactions, with a spare auto-injector recommended, and emergency calls made without delay.
• Parental disclosures, up-to-date medication information, and signed healthcare plans are essential during registration and ongoing review processes.

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Table of Contents

• Key elements every nursery allergy policy should contain
• Individual Healthcare Plans and Allergy Action Plans: creating and using them
• Staff training, roles and responsibilities
• Preventing exposure during meals, activities and trips
• Emergency response: recognising reactions and using AAIs
• Record keeping, reporting and policy review
• Practical checklist and ready-to-use clauses
• How we put this into practice at The Sunflower Nursery
• How The Sunflower Nursery supports families managing allergies
• FAQ
• Sources

Key elements every nursery allergy policy should contain

A working policy names who does what. A senior lead should hold overall responsibility for allergy management, with a nominated medication custodian in each room who checks that auto-injectors are present, in date and accessible to trained staff only.

Registration is where the policy starts earning its place. Parents should be asked directly about diagnosed allergies, asked to supply a recent photo of the child, and asked to agree in writing to provide and replace medication as it expires.

The policy should set out, at minimum:

• Prevention routines: checking supplier allergen statements, keeping separate preparation areas, banning food sharing and using non-food rewards.
• Medication rules: where auto-injectors are stored, how staff reach them quickly, and who tracks expiry dates.
• Emergency steps: who calls 999, where the emergency kit lives, and who completes the incident log afterwards.
• Publication and review: the policy sits on the nursery’s website and is reviewed at least once a year, and immediately after any incident, in line with the GOV.UK template.

Settings adapting clauses for different age groups can look at how age-specific policies are drafted for other routine procedures, since the same structure of responsibility, process and review applies across the board.

Individual Healthcare Plans and Allergy Action Plans: creating and using them

An Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) and an Allergy Action Plan serve the same purpose from different angles: the IHP covers a child’s broader health needs, while the Allergy Action Plan focuses specifically on recognising and treating a reaction. BSACI-format plans are the version most clinics issue, and nurseries should ask parents to bring one rather than drafting their own.

A usable plan needs:

• The diagnosis, specific triggers and typical versus severe symptoms.
• Exact medication names, doses, auto-injector type and expiry date.
• Emergency contacts, GP or clinic details, and a recent photo of the child.

Parents complete the plan with support from their GP, allergy clinic or health visitor, and it should be reviewed and signed off after any clinical appointment or reaction.

Keep a full copy centrally and a laminated summary, photo included, displayed where food is prepared and at the child’s base room. This speeds up recognition for staff who do not know the child well.

Pro Tip: Brief temporary and agency staff on every child’s allergy status and photo plan before their first shift, not during it.

Staff training, roles and responsibilities

Training is the clause most policies get wrong by treating it as a one-off. It needs a schedule, named attendees, and proof that the learning stuck.

1. All staff complete annual allergy-awareness and anaphylaxis training, including a practical session practising with trainer auto-injector devices.
2. At least one person holding a current paediatric first aid qualification must be on site whenever children are eating, as required by the EYFS statutory framework.
3. Each child with a known allergy should have named, trained staff responsible for their care that day, confirmed at the morning handover.
4. Temporary or agency staff receive a short briefing on which children have allergies and exactly where the emergency kit is kept before they start work.
5. Training dates, attendees and competency checks are logged and audited, ideally with input from the local school nursing team or an accredited trainer.

Preventing exposure during meals, activities and trips

Most reactions in nursery settings are preventable with consistent routine rather than outright bans on particular foods. Allergy UK’s early years guidance recommends prevention and staff training over blanket restrictions, alongside displaying allergy information wherever food is handled.

• Kitchens should check supplier allergen statements on every delivery, use separate preparation surfaces, and colour-code equipment where several children have different allergies.
• Lunchboxes are checked on arrival, food sharing is not allowed, and children wash hands before and after eating.
• Rewards and celebrations use stickers, stamps or small toys instead of sweets, so no child is excluded from a treat.
• Trips carry their own risk assessment: the child’s auto-injector and action plan travel with them, at least two trained staff attend, and the venue is checked in advance for likely triggers such as farm animals or communal picnic food.

Sensory activities need the same care. Taste-safe sensory play guidance is worth consulting when planning messy play for toddlers who mouth objects, so an allergen does not end up in a sensory tray by accident.

Emergency response: recognising reactions and using AAIs

Early administration of adrenaline saves time that cannot be made up later. NHS Healthier Together guidance is direct on this point: do not delay the injection if anaphylaxis is suspected, and always carry more than one in-date device rather than just one.

In a pre-verbal child, watch for facial or lip swelling, sudden difficulty breathing, a persistent cough, repeated vomiting or sudden floppiness and collapse.

One in-date spare adrenaline auto-injector alongside the primary device is recommended by NHS guidance, since a first dose does not always resolve the reaction before paramedics arrive.

• Administer the auto-injector promptly once anaphylaxis is suspected, do not wait to see if symptoms settle.
• Call 999 immediately, state “anaphylaxis” clearly, and keep the child lying flat or in the recovery position as advised.
• Monitor breathing and consciousness continuously until paramedics take over, and contact the parents as soon as another staff member is free to do so.

After any reaction, log the incident, notify parents the same day, and review the child’s IHP and the setting’s procedures before the next session.

Record keeping, reporting and policy review

A policy is only as reliable as the records behind it.

1. Keep a central allergy register with each child’s photo, current medication status and up-to-date contact details.
2. Log training dates and refresher sessions, and keep a separate incident and near-miss record with a named member of staff responsible for reviewing it.
3. Review the allergy policy at least once a year, or immediately after any serious incident, and publish the current version on the setting’s website alongside a hard copy on site.
4. Get written parental consent before sharing a child’s healthcare information with local health services or other professionals involved in their care.

Practical checklist and ready-to-use clauses

A short daily checklist catches most gaps before they become incidents: photo on file, IHP present, auto-injector in date and in its usual place, food restrictions flagged on the register.

• Named allergy lead with overall responsibility for the policy.
• Clause confirming parents supply and replace medication before it expires.
• Spare auto-injector procedure stating storage location and the weekly expiry check.
• Annual training schedule naming who attends and when.
• Trips clause requiring a dedicated risk assessment and two trained staff.
• Publication and review clause confirming the policy is reviewed annually and after incidents.

When adapting the GOV.UK template into nursery wording, keep the clinical sign-off requirement for every IHP intact rather than letting staff draft medical content themselves. For formatting ideas, nurseries sometimes borrow structure from existing ready-to-copy clause examples used for other care procedures.

How we put this into practice at The Sunflower Nursery

The nursery assigns responsibility for allergy management and maintains communication with parents starting at registration. Photo summaries are displayed near food-preparation areas, and daily handovers include medication checks before snacks are served.

The nursery keeps track of auto-injector expiration dates and collaborates with local healthcare teams to support families as needed. Staff are encouraged to undertake paediatric anaphylaxis training.

— tariq

How The Sunflower Nursery supports families managing allergies

Parents weighing up a nursery place for a child with allergies want to see the paperwork before they sign anything, not promises after the fact. Our policy and procedures page sets out our current allergy policy for review, alongside the parental checklists we use at registration.

Templates and training sessions still need tailoring to each child, and every IHP requires clinical sign-off before it goes into a child’s file, so treat any document as a starting point rather than a finished plan. If you would like to see our policy in full or discuss a place for your child, visit our main site or get in touch to arrange a tour and policy review.

This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified doctor. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.

FAQ

What must a nursery allergy policy legally include?

GOV.UK guidance expects settings to identify children with allergies, hold a current healthcare plan for each, train staff, and publish and review the policy regularly. Early years providers are strongly advised to follow this guidance alongside their EYFS obligations on dietary information and paediatric first aid.

Does a nursery have to carry adrenaline auto-injectors?

A nursery is not required to stock its own, but it must store and manage any auto-injector prescribed to a child in its care correctly. NHS guidance recommends keeping two in-date devices accessible rather than relying on a single one.

How often should an Allergy Action Plan be reviewed?

An Allergy Action Plan should be reviewed whenever a child’s diagnosis or medication changes, and checked at every clinic appointment. BSACI-recommended plans are designed to be updated by a parent alongside a GP or allergy specialist rather than by nursery staff alone.

Who is responsible for checking auto-injector expiry dates?

Parents are responsible for supplying and replacing medication; nurseries should assign a named staff member to check expiry dates regularly and flag any device due to expire soon. This shared responsibility is a standard clause in most nursery allergy policies.

How does The Sunflower Nursery handle allergy registration?

Parents disclose allergies at registration and provide a photo, emergency contacts and a completed healthcare plan before their child starts. Our registration process includes this information gathering as a standard step for every family.

Sources

• Gov
• Allergy safety policy – template (GOV.UK PDF)
• Life threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) | Healthier Together (NHS)
• Guidance for early years settings (Allergy UK)

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