A father of a student who requires constant help to manage his diabetes has demanded nurses be permanently on site at Canberra special schools to respond to emergencies.
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John Hillier said he had to fight hard to push the government to have a nurse placed at The Woden School after his son started in 2011, and was disappointed this year's trial of a new healthcare model had left school staff to call a nursing telephone hotline.
"Our son's highly unstable type 1 diabetes can go from blood glucose levels of 20-plus to two in the space of 15-20 minutes, for no obvious reason, without signs," he said.
"If he goes to two he's considered hypoglycemic and that affects his brain and his body shuts down.
"When there is a crisis you need the experience and knowledge of a registered nurse to be able to act, and act promptly."
Mr Hillier said these sharpest, most dangerous drops in glucose levels – requiring immediate injections – had on average occurred once every six months.
ACT Health's Canberra Hospital and Health Services deputy director general Ian Thompson confirmed on Wednesday on-site nursing services would return to two special schools where they had been removed as part of the trial, which the Sunday Canberra Times understands to be Black Mountain and The Woden School.
With a review of the Healthcare Access in Schools program underway, he has not guaranteed there would be no changes to special schools' nursing arrangements in the future.
Opposition education spokesman Steve Doszpot said permanent, full-time nurses were essential for all four ACT special schools.
"We're talking about children's lives, and parents' state of mind, if you're already worrying enough about your kids," he said.
"We can afford light rail for $1.2 billion [a disputed figure], but we can't afford five nurses?"
Health Minister Simon Corbell said he had instructed his directorate to work with parents and schools to respond to the concerns raised about the trialled model.
"I understand parents want the best level of care possible for their children and the HAAS model allows for each Canberra child with additional needs, not just those in our special schools, to have their needs assessed by a nurse and a paediatrician," he said.
"In each case it will be up to the medical professionals to determine the level of medical care applicable and the appropriate person to deliver that care."
Mr Thompson said where care plans based on these assessments required nursing care, a nurse was provided.
