WA children are missing out on vital health checks because of a shortage of child health nurses. The State still needs more than 100 child health nurses despite a damning Auditor-General's report on the problem in November and three parliamentary inquiries since 2009. Children's Commissioner Michelle Scott is warning of "serious consequences in terms of physical and mental health and juvenile justice", a warning reinforced by child development experts.

Yet the Government has admitted that it has done little to address the problem. In response to questions from the Opposition in Parliament last month, the State Government said no new resources had been committed to reduce the number of children missing key health checks. The Auditor-General's report found that just 30 per cent of 18-month-olds and 9 per cent of three-year-olds were receiving their recommended checks.

The report noted that an extra 105 child health nurses were needed. Ms Scott said the long-term effects of the child health nurse shortage could be "extremely serious" in terms of children's mental and physical health and wellbeing. "Child health nurses play a critical role in supporting parents in the early years," she said.

"All of the research tells us that this kind of support is essential if we want to promote the mental and physical health not only for their childhood but for the adults that they'll become."She said child health nurses often picked up significant developmental problems at an early stage - and the longer such problems were undiagnosed the more difficult they became to treat.

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research senior researcher Sally Brinkman said it was disappointing that a prosperous State with an internationally renowned child health research facility was continuing to under-invest in child health.

Labor's early childhood spokeswoman Linda Savage said the problem had become critical. But Child and Adolescent Health Service chief Philip Aylward said the shortage of child health nurses did not mean developmental problems were going undiagnosed as GPs could also diagnose such issues and make referrals.

He admitted that child health services had failed to keep pace with the demands of a growing population.
He said addressing it was a "priority" for the department and "subject to ongoing discussions" with the State Government.