❓ Ms. Stephens asks about the impact of increased funding for child development services on paediatric and child health services, and how it will expand services and the workforce. The Minister details how the funding will address increased demand, improve access, and pilot new service delivery models.
AnsweredQoN 216Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
SERVICE
216. Ms R.S. STEPHENS to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
ongoing commitment and investment to improve Western Australia's child
health system.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the
state budget's significant funding boost for child development services
will improve the delivery of paediatric and child health services in Western Australia?
(2) Can the
minister advise how this significant investment will facilitate a rapid
expansion of services and significantly increase WA's children's
health workforce?
SERVICE
216. Ms R.S. STEPHENS to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
ongoing commitment and investment to improve Western Australia's child
health system.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the
state budget's significant funding boost for child development services
will improve the delivery of paediatric and child health services in Western Australia?
(2) Can the
minister advise how this significant investment will facilitate a rapid
expansion of services and significantly increase WA's children's
health workforce?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Albany for her question on this incredibly important
service. As we know, the child development service is a unique service in
Australia. Western Australia is the only state that provides a publicly funded service
that provides both assessment as well as ongoing treatment for children
experiencing developmental and learning delays. That is why it is important
that we continue to keep up with demand, which has overwhelmed the service over
the last 10 years. We have seen demand for referrals to paediatricians increase
by 123 per cent over the last 10 years and clinical psychology referrals by 114
per cent. With that increased demand, we are also seeing increased patient
complexity and social factors within families that require multidisciplinary
treatment and care plans to support these children in their learning journeys.
It is important that the community knows that the child development service is
priority for the Cook Labor government. As part of the upcoming budget, the
government has announced the significant
investment of $39 million, which is one of the single biggest injections of
funding into the service, to support ongoing service delivery in our
communities. The investment will fund more than 100 medical, nursing and allied
health FTEs in both metropolitan and regional Western Australia to provide
better and quicker access for people who need to have their children seen. We
know that children need to be seen in those early developmental years so that they
receive the full impact of treatments. The earlier the intervention, the better
the outcomes and the more impactful those treatments will be.
Over the last number of years, the
child development service has been piloting a number of new ways to deliver
assessments, care and support for children with developmental challenges,
including the piloting of a joint nurse and paediatrician medication pathway.
Rather than children having a medication review with a paediatrician, the
pathway involves a clinical nurse specialist who monitors and manages ongoing
medication issues. Often that is an assessment. If there are no complications
or challenges, the child can essentially get another prescription. That is
seeing nurse practitioners working at the top of their scope, which is
something we are keen to do more of in the system because it will free up
paediatricians to see more children for assessment. We are also piloting the
combination of service planning and assessment appointments to allow families to have fewer appointments and reduce
waiting times. We have also opened a number of child development service
centres on weekends to open up appointments on Saturdays, which is incredibly
important for working families in terms of access and flexibility. We are transitioning
to electronic referrals to reduce the
administrative burden and we are implementing the hub-and-spoke model ,
which will allow child development services to sit alongside child and
adolescent mental health services. The experience of patients is that they are
siloed, and people are bounced between those services. The hub model, which
opened recently opened in the south west in Bunbury, will allow many of those
services to be assessed alongside mental health services under one roof.
I spoke to one practitioner who has
been working in the CDS for 17 years because that is where she feels that she can make the most difference. People love
working in the child development service area. They see many, many
children and have a genuine impact on people's lives. I am very proud
that the government's 2024–25 budget will deliver a significant
increase in the assessment and ongoing treatment for children with
developmental challenges.
thank the member for Albany for her question on this incredibly important
service. As we know, the child development service is a unique service in
Australia. Western Australia is the only state that provides a publicly funded service
that provides both assessment as well as ongoing treatment for children
experiencing developmental and learning delays. That is why it is important
that we continue to keep up with demand, which has overwhelmed the service over
the last 10 years. We have seen demand for referrals to paediatricians increase
by 123 per cent over the last 10 years and clinical psychology referrals by 114
per cent. With that increased demand, we are also seeing increased patient
complexity and social factors within families that require multidisciplinary
treatment and care plans to support these children in their learning journeys.
It is important that the community knows that the child development service is
priority for the Cook Labor government. As part of the upcoming budget, the
government has announced the significant
investment of $39 million, which is one of the single biggest injections of
funding into the service, to support ongoing service delivery in our
communities. The investment will fund more than 100 medical, nursing and allied
health FTEs in both metropolitan and regional Western Australia to provide
better and quicker access for people who need to have their children seen. We
know that children need to be seen in those early developmental years so that they
receive the full impact of treatments. The earlier the intervention, the better
the outcomes and the more impactful those treatments will be.
Over the last number of years, the
child development service has been piloting a number of new ways to deliver
assessments, care and support for children with developmental challenges,
including the piloting of a joint nurse and paediatrician medication pathway.
Rather than children having a medication review with a paediatrician, the
pathway involves a clinical nurse specialist who monitors and manages ongoing
medication issues. Often that is an assessment. If there are no complications
or challenges, the child can essentially get another prescription. That is
seeing nurse practitioners working at the top of their scope, which is
something we are keen to do more of in the system because it will free up
paediatricians to see more children for assessment. We are also piloting the
combination of service planning and assessment appointments to allow families to have fewer appointments and reduce
waiting times. We have also opened a number of child development service
centres on weekends to open up appointments on Saturdays, which is incredibly
important for working families in terms of access and flexibility. We are transitioning
to electronic referrals to reduce the
administrative burden and we are implementing the hub-and-spoke model ,
which will allow child development services to sit alongside child and
adolescent mental health services. The experience of patients is that they are
siloed, and people are bounced between those services. The hub model, which
opened recently opened in the south west in Bunbury, will allow many of those
services to be assessed alongside mental health services under one roof.
I spoke to one practitioner who has
been working in the CDS for 17 years because that is where she feels that she can make the most difference. People love
working in the child development service area. They see many, many
children and have a genuine impact on people's lives. I am very proud
that the government's 2024–25 budget will deliver a significant
increase in the assessment and ongoing treatment for children with
developmental challenges.
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