❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health regarding alleged closures of child health centres in southern suburbs. The Minister denies plans to close 13 centres, explaining a shift towards a hub-and-spoke model for improved multidisciplinary care.
AnsweredQoN 535Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHILD HEALTH CENTRES —
SOUTHERN SUBURBS
535. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to reports that the
government plans to close community child health centres in the southern
suburbs in favour of forcing new parents to visit the Murdoch health precinct
for baby check-ups.
(1) Is the minister closing these
centres; if so, how many; which ones; and why?
(2) What health experts and advocacy
groups have been consulted on this decision?
SOUTHERN SUBURBS
535. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to reports that the
government plans to close community child health centres in the southern
suburbs in favour of forcing new parents to visit the Murdoch health precinct
for baby check-ups.
(1) Is the minister closing these
centres; if so, how many; which ones; and why?
(2) What health experts and advocacy
groups have been consulted on this decision?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
recent media report that purported the government was closing 13 centres was
completely wrong. The journalist was advised of that prior to publication.
There are absolutely no plans to close 13 centres across the south metro. Members will be aware that a lot of those child
health nurses and child development services
are spread across a range of different sites. We announced some time ago, under
the former health minister, that the best model of care, based on
consultation with the non-government sector, which is very active in this, is
the hub-and-spoke model for community health services. A range of jurisdictions
work to a hub-and-spoke model. To explain that to the opposition, the hub is a big
centre, and a spoke is a small centre in neighbourhoods. Small centres will
remain across neighbourhoods because there are people who like to visit their
child health nurse or services that are within walking distance. However, many
children and an increasing number of children have complex needs and need a multidisciplinary
approach. They need to see the Child
Development Service, child health nurse and the child and adolescent mental
health service. From the feedback we have had from families who have to
access those services, going to a multitude of sites and services all the time
is incredibly challenging and difficult when they have other children, jobs and
lives they have to lead. Accessing the multitude of multidisciplinary services
is currently really challenging. We are working towards providing a model that
has a hub and spoke so we will have those
multidisciplinary services and services out in the community. Some of the sites
are incredibly old and absolutely dilapidated. They have no room to
expand. We will not be renewing leases on sites that are not fit for purpose
and do not have room to expand the staffing. They will get brand new facilities
and the staff will be closer to colleagues as well. This has been in the
pipeline for a number of years and has been well consulted on. We continue to
consult with the parents who use the service and with our community and
non-community organisations, which are very active in this state. Everyone
agrees that a multidisciplinary approach is
the best approach and gets the best outcomes for children with very complex needs. The best way to provide that is for all those disciplines to be together
in one service.
recent media report that purported the government was closing 13 centres was
completely wrong. The journalist was advised of that prior to publication.
There are absolutely no plans to close 13 centres across the south metro. Members will be aware that a lot of those child
health nurses and child development services
are spread across a range of different sites. We announced some time ago, under
the former health minister, that the best model of care, based on
consultation with the non-government sector, which is very active in this, is
the hub-and-spoke model for community health services. A range of jurisdictions
work to a hub-and-spoke model. To explain that to the opposition, the hub is a big
centre, and a spoke is a small centre in neighbourhoods. Small centres will
remain across neighbourhoods because there are people who like to visit their
child health nurse or services that are within walking distance. However, many
children and an increasing number of children have complex needs and need a multidisciplinary
approach. They need to see the Child
Development Service, child health nurse and the child and adolescent mental
health service. From the feedback we have had from families who have to
access those services, going to a multitude of sites and services all the time
is incredibly challenging and difficult when they have other children, jobs and
lives they have to lead. Accessing the multitude of multidisciplinary services
is currently really challenging. We are working towards providing a model that
has a hub and spoke so we will have those
multidisciplinary services and services out in the community. Some of the sites
are incredibly old and absolutely dilapidated. They have no room to
expand. We will not be renewing leases on sites that are not fit for purpose
and do not have room to expand the staffing. They will get brand new facilities
and the staff will be closer to colleagues as well. This has been in the
pipeline for a number of years and has been well consulted on. We continue to
consult with the parents who use the service and with our community and
non-community organisations, which are very active in this state. Everyone
agrees that a multidisciplinary approach is
the best approach and gets the best outcomes for children with very complex needs. The best way to provide that is for all those disciplines to be together
in one service.
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