Integrated Health Checks for 2-year olds
Childcare minister, Sam Gyimah, has announced funding of £2.2m for local authorities to help them implement the new joined-up early years and health checks for two-year-olds.
The reforms will give parents a better picture of their child’s progress at the age of two, drawing on the expertise of health visitors and early years practitioners, according to the Government.
Currently, health and early years reviews of young children are carried out separately.
Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah said: “No parent should be left in the dark about their child’s development.
“There should be an accessible check for all at the age of two, which is a pressure point where issues such as speech delay and behavioural problems begin to appear.”
Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter added: “We know it’s important to check children’s health and development when they are two, so that if extra support is needed it can be identified early.
“Integrated reviews and the huge increase in health visitors will lead to better outcomes for children and families.”
Mr Gyimah also revealed that reviews will be available for two-year-olds not in settings for the first time thanks to pilots exploring how they can be offered to all children. It is hoped the pilots will find a way to reach around 275,000 children who are not in early education settings.
The integrated review, which will be implemented nationally from September, will be available to children between 24 and 30 months old.
It will bring together the assessments given to two-year-olds through the Department of Health’s Healthy Child Programme and the Department for Education’s early years progress check.
Health and early years professionals will share information and may carry out the reviews together – giving parents a better picture of their child’s progress and reducing duplication.
The joined-up approach was trialled for two years in 10 local authorities and the new approach received strongly positive feedback from parents.
If you have any concerns and would like us to carry out an integrated health check please speak to us!