The School Health Service consists of a team of doctors and nurses who provide monitoring of primary child health and well-being as well as preventive care services in all State and Church Schools in Malta and Gozo.
The emphasis is on the early detection of developmental, growth, sensory and learning problems as well as physical disorders. To this end, pre-school developmental assessments are carried out before school entry, that is, at pre-Kindergarten level. These assessments, which are carried out in the parents’ presence, involve taking a medical and family history, conducting a language, physical and social development assessment, height and weight measurement, as well as checking of vaccination records.
Throughout the school terms, the school doctors and nurses carry out a number of procedures. These include:
- re-checking and updating of vaccination records of all Kindergarten 2 students
- vision screening for Year 1, Year 3 and Year 6 students
- testing for colour-blindness in year 6 students
- evaluation and reviews of questionnaires which are sent to all parents of children in Year 3
- checking of vaccination records and TB screening of all non-Maltese students
- screening for scoliosis in Year 6 (for girls only) & Year 8 (for girls & boys), and
- the administration of Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio vaccine (booster) and the meningococcus ACWY vaccine to Year 10 students.
The team also collects and inputs the data for the World Health Organisation COSI (Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative) Survey, which is carried out every 3 years in 32 countries including Malta.
The School Health Service strives for continuity of care for all school children and supports a multidisciplinary team approach in primary child health care.
Health
screening programmes in Malta and Gozo are run from the age of 8 weeks
at Well Baby Clinics and these are continued at specified ages up to 12
years of age in schools, using the same online electronic record system
Moreover, School Health Service has dovetailed with other Primary Health Care services so as to provide continuity and seamlessness in care provision.
The team works in close collaboration with the National Immunisation Service through regular updating and inputting of vaccines in the central national immunisation database, administration of some vaccination in schools & catch up campaigns for missed vaccinations.
In addition, school
doctors and nurses communicate with the CDAU multi-disciplinary team to
provide updated clinical observations of the children being assessed at
CDAU.
One of the school nurses also assists in the clinical sessions with the Consultant Paediatrician at Appoġġ.
The SHS team also manages and runs the Scoliosis Review Clinic in Hamrun Community Clinic, aimed at monitoring and following up children with mild scoliosis.
(Last updated October 2019)