All eyes on baby Dylan as he sets new records

By REBECCA WALSH

Dylan Connor Moore had a lot of people waiting for him when he arrived in the world at 3.25 on Tuesday morning.

As well as his family and the medical staff, his birth was keenly awaited by health workers who set-up Kidslink - a tracking system that may eventually record the health and immunisation records of every baby in New Zealand.

Kidslink, piloted in Otara two years ago, was meant to begin on Monday, but none of the babies born that day was from the suburbs initially involved in the programme.

It will start with babies born in the Otara, Papakura and Franklin areas before being expanded to the whole South Auckland region - 7000 babies each year.

Dylan, from Papakura, was one of the first to arrive on Tuesday and be enrolled.

West Auckland and Hamilton are also due to begin similar programmes, using software developed by Orion.

It is hoped other hospitals will pick up the system for their regions.

The idea for Kidslink began through Middlemore Hospital staff wanting to reduce the increasing rate of babies returning to hospital. They also wanted to ensure children remained healthier in the community.

Nettie Knetsch, chairwoman of the Well Child Implementation Group, said that by combining early Well Child checks and immunisations health workers could follow the baby's progress from birth and monitor potential problem areas such as whooping cough and measles.

"Compared with many other countries, New Zealand's child-health status is not good," she said.

"One of the problems in Counties Manukau, and indeed the rest of New Zealand, is that many of our children receive Well Child checks and immunisations from different health providers at different times."

That could mean a full record of the child's Well Child and immunisation details was not available to health providers to help them decide on the right care, she said.

Each time a child received one of the regular immunisation or Well Child checks from enrolled providers, the information would be recorded on the Kidslink electronic register. It would then be available to any other health provider who offered similar services.

The system also would alert administrators when children had missed or were overdue for immunisations or Well Child checks, ensuring follow-up care.

New mum Andriette Moore was more than happy for Dylan to be on the Kidslink register and said she would encourage other parents to do the same.

"I think it's a good idea. You want the best for your children and this system is trying to help you," she said.

Mrs Moore, who gave birth to Dylan at Papakura Maternity Hospital, said it would provide a backstop for her son's care.

"People can look up what he has got and hasn't," she said. "If your doctor isn't there, someone else can look it up."

Ms Knetsch said the initial aim of the programme was to achieve an immunisation rate of 95 per cent at six months of age, with the long-term goal of achieving at least 90 per cent immunisation cover at 18 months for all children in Counties Manukau.

Parents or caregivers can choose not to be part of the programme.

nzherald.co.nz/health