Public Health South nurses have started doing the free health and development check for 4-year-olds while plans for delivering the checks to about 3000 children this year are developed.
The new initiative was announced by the Labour Government in 2007 and Otago health managers were "eyeballed" by Ministry of Health officials last September and told in no uncertain terms to get on with it.
Otago District Health Board Before School Check (B4SC) nurse co-ordinator Barbara Warren, who was employed one month ago, said different models - using Plunket, Maori and Pacific Island health groups, or practice nurses in primary health organisations to do the checks - had been developed in different areas of the country.
An advisory group was being established to decide how the $342,000 project would work best in Otago, and it is hoped the final plan will be up and running by June.
"I would like to see flexibility. Everybody will need to play a part, whether they are providing the checks or not, because we all need to work together for the benefit of the children."
Parental consent was needed to do the checks, which would identify any health, behavioural, social, or developmental concerns which could affect a child's ability to learn, such as a hearing problem or communication difficulty, Ms Warren said.
If any problems or issues are uncovered, the child will be referred to specialist services, and a clinical advisory group has already been established to ensure children go to the correct service.
It was an exciting programme to be involved with, one which would help ensure children got the best start at school and did not arrive at school unable to hear, in pain or unable to interact with their peers, she said.
