NCHIP will help make sure no child falls between the cracks

23 June 2016

The health of children in the Taranaki region will be better off with the launch of the National Child Health Information Platform (NCHIP) and Child and Youth Coordination Service (CaY-C) this week.

Becky Jenkins, Taranaki DHB General Manager of Planning and Funding said, “NCHIP is about improving the health of our children and will enable early childhood health services to be delivered in a more coordinated way so that no child falls between the cracks.”

NCHIP provides a single online view for all practitioners involved in the 29 child health milestones from birth to six years of age. NCHIP captures and monitors Midwife checks, Well Child/Tamariki Ora assessments, immunisations, hearing and vision checks, oral health checks and B4 School Checks. The CaY-C service can assist in the tracking and tracing of children lost to providers so that no child misses out.

Mrs Jenkins said, “It is important that every child receives their health checks and immunisations on time to make sure the child is happy and well. With the launch of NCHIP and CaY-C we are absolutely committed to improving the continuity of care for all children in Taranaki and making sure parents and caregivers have one central place that connects their child to the right health providers.”

The launch is a joint venture between Pinnacle Midlands Health Network (Pinnacle) and Taranaki DHB. Taranaki is the third Midland DHB to implement NCHIP, with successful roll outs already in the Waikato and Tairawhiti.

“Once launched, all Taranaki newborns will be automatically enrolled. All other Taranaki children up to six years old will be enrolled approximately three months after the launch,” said Mrs Jenkins.

Amanda Antoine, Taranaki DHB Clinical Midwife Manager said, “NCHIP will fill important gaps and help streamline processes right from when a baby is born, we are embracing NCHIP as it will ensure we keep mothers and their babies at the centre of their health care.”

Marnie Reinfelds, Child and Youth Coordination Service facilitator said the exciting thing about NCHIP is that it will support Clinicians working with families to ensure a child receives the health care they are entitled to. “Our Well Child/Tamariki Ora services, Maori health services, outreach immunisation team and our GP services will benefit from NCHIP, as they currently spend a lot of time trying to find people and families,” she said.

Taranaki DHB, Pinnacle (Midlands Health Network), Plunket, midwives and Well Child/Tamariki Ora providers and formally launched the NCHIP service on Wednesday 22 June.

ENDS

For more information contact: Cressida Gates-Thompson, Communications Manager, 027 703 6177

How NCHIP works:

NCHIP ensures children are enrolled and engaged in required healthcare services and provides reminders for GPs, Well Child/Tamariki Ora providers, and any other relevant health professionals of when child health milestones are due.
Following birth, each child will be enrolled onto the Child and Youth Co-ordination Service (CaY-C) including NCHIP and basic information about the parents and child will be collected by Taranaki DHB. The collected information will be stored on our secure website NCHIP.
The CaY-C service can help parents/caregivers find a health provider for their child if they don’t have one.
Providers involved in a child’s care will be able to securely access a summary of the child’s milestone information including a view of what checks or immunisations have been completed and what is coming up for a child.
The CaY-C Service has been developed by Midlands Health Network as part of a programme funded by the Midland District Health Boards, Midlands Health Network, the Ministry of Health and the National Health IT Board to assist in the tracking of children lost to the service.

Last updated: Wednesday, October 2, 2019