A new report by NAHT Cymru reveals serious concern over the amount of medical intervention schools in Wales are being forced to carry out in the classroom – often without proper training – due to lack of funding for qualified medical practitioners.

NAHT Cymru surveyed members in Wales at the end of January 2026 on medical interventions. The survey was open for a week and received a very strong level of concern from members, with some 339 responses.

• The vast majority (92%) of respondents confirmed that staff in their schools are being required to provide medical interventions for pupils.
• Only a third (33%) of respondents said that the training staff receive to carry out those required medical interventions was sufficient. Over half (55%) said staff do not receive sufficient training, with 12% saying staff receive no training.

At the same time the level of the medical interventions that staff are being asked to provide is becoming increasingly complex.

While the most common interventions provided by staff were mobility and personal care, such as toileting support (83%), and routine medication administrations (80%), the range of interventions being carried out by school staff also includes emergency medication administration, respiratory and cardiac monitoring, catheter and stoma care, tube feeding, the use of hoists, and mental health intervention.

Staff report high levels of anxiety around accountability, safeguarding responsibilities, and the risk of making mistakes with potentially serious consequences.

Medical needs are also having a significant operational impact on schools. Staff are regularly removed from classrooms to provide care — often requiring two adults — reducing teaching and learning time, placing strain on staffing ratios, increasing workload, and contributing to rising stress, sickness absence and burnout.

NAHT Cymru is warning that the current situation is unsustainable and unfair — both for school staff and for pupils with medical needs.

NAHT Cymru is calling on Welsh Government to recognise that many of the medical demands currently placed on schools are unreasonable, and to act urgently by ensuring that health services are properly funded and resourced to meet their legal responsibilities to pupils. This includes fully funded medical support for pupils who need it and clearer guidance for school leaders on the limits of schools’ responsibilities, and what is — and is not — appropriate medical intervention for education staff to deliver.