Children suspected or confirmed with COVID-19 who need face-to-face child health checks will be able to visit special purpose clinics during the Omicron outbreak, with the first clinic open now.
The Child and Adolescent Health Service is continuing to provide care to the most vulnerable children in our community through the provision of a COVID-19 safe child health clinic, delivering health checks to newborns through to two-year olds.
This will ensure the most at-risk children and/or their parents or guardians who have tested COVID-19 positive continue to have access to face-to-face appointments when needed.
The COVID-19 safe spaces will provide vital child health or Purple Book appointments for children needing growth or physical assessments.
Birth to school entry health checks can safely be provided via Telehealth with a brief face-to-face appointment accessed via a number of different pathways.
If a face-to-face appointment is needed, in the vast majority of cases, children can safely wait until after the 7-day isolation period for a rescheduled appointment.
However, with the increase in COVID-19 cases, the number of children and parents in isolation or with COVID-19 needing face-to-face appointments will increase.
The clinic at East Perth, which opened this week, will support the most vulnerable children, for example, a mother facing breast-feeding challenges or infants with growth monitoring needs that must have a face-to-face check immediately.
‘COVID-ready’ clinics will provide this service to families in isolation, or who are suspect/positive with COVID-19 who warrant prioritisation for services including face-to-face assessment and ongoing intervention where required.
A second clinic will be opened in Duncraig in the coming weeks.
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“Child health checks provide an important universal service for parents and carers at a critical time in a child’s development.
“For many families the child health service may be their only contact with the health system so it is important to ensure that all families, and especially the most vulnerable, are provided with a service to meet their needs.
“The Child and Adolescent Health Service has listened to the experience of their counterparts in the Eastern states and has responded to meet the needs of children who are COVID-19 positive and need a physical assessment during their isolation period.
“Through the ongoing commitment and dedication of our staff, we are ensuring it is business as usual wherever we can so that children and families have access to the best possible care, within an ever-changing environment.”
