More nurses in schools backed

Children at a decile-two Wairarapa school often present with boils, school sores, rashes and various other skin infections, the principal says.

Masterton's Lakeview School principal Ed Hodgkinson is backing proposals for a full-time school nurse to treat vulnerable Kiwi kids.

The Green Party proposes putting a nurse in every low decile primary and intermediate if they are elected to government, Greens co-leader Metiria Turei announced at the party's annual conference.

The plan - part of the party's child poverty strategy - would cost $30 million a year, giving basic health care services to 112,000 children.

Mr Hodgkinson said having a full-time nurse would be "fantastic".

"There are plenty of times when having somebody on hand - in terms of medical support - would have been great.

"Unfortunately that support's not there at the moment."

Skin issues were the most common ailment suffered by pupils at Lakeview, he said.

"Boils, school sores, rashes that have got infected, that sort of thing.

"At the moment those things - if they're noticed - we ring the family and hope that something's done about them, but we can't always be assured that something's actually happening."

A public health nurse currently visited the school less than once a month due to the amount of vaccination work they were swamped with, Mr Hodgkinson said.

"We see a lot of children who [are] progressively getting worse health-wise and if those things could be nipped in the bud to start with then their engagement would be much higher in terms of actually attending school.

"Eventually, it gets to the point where they just don't turn up," he said.

Mrs Turei said poverty, ill health and educational under-achievement went hand in hand.

"Our policy takes the health care to where it is most needed and where it is most easily accessed - low decile schools."

The policy was one of the key recommendations by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation in its submission to the Government's Green Paper on Vulnerable Children and was backed by teachers' unions.

However, Health Minister Tony Ryall said the policy already existed.

"The Greens are behind the eight ball on this. We already have public health nurses spending significant time in low-decile primary schools around the country."

A spokeswoman for Mr Ryall's office said district health boards funded the equivalent of 280 full-time public health nurses to work in primaries and intermediates.

A focus on lower decile schools was emphasised, with more visiting hours available.

Social workers would also be in all 670 low-decile primary schools by the end of next term, Mr Ryall said.

"And we are rolling out extra nurses into decile 3 high schools."

An extra 47 nurses would complement the 135 nurses already in low-decile secondary schools, Mr Ryall said.

Mrs Turei said nurses already did a "fantastic" job in low decile secondary schools and some primary schools, but schools should not have to use their operations grants to fund the service.

The Greens' policy would require 280 new school nurses to care for children in the 650 schools not currently funded.

More than half of the $30 million would go towards nurses' salaries, with the remainder covering medical and administration costs.APNZ