The consultation document, Health for All Children, suggests that health checks at the ages of eight months, two years and 39 months for conditions such as autism or co-ordination problems should be abandoned, because the services were under-used.
The consultation proposes that instead, the NHS provide a public health nurse for each pre-school setting and that child health services should make 'more use of the skills of other professionals working with children such as pre-school childcare workers, to promote healthy living messages and observe child development'.
The Executive has based its consultation on a report published last February by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The report's author, Professor David Hall, former president of the college, said spot checks by clinicians on children's health were of limited value because those who would most benefit from them were least likely to attend appointments.
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