Wagga doctor says new children's clinic would end years-long wait for help

Children's charity Royal Far West (RFW) is lobbying the state government ahead of this year's budget for a new paediatric clinic in the city and Wagga paediatrician Theresa Pitts has thrown her weight behind the push.

"The campaign is about bringing more services to regional children - so not just in Wagga, but across the Murrumbidgee," Dr Pitts said.

The Manly-based RFW service provides a range of child healthcare options free of charge to the public, with a special focus on mental and behavioural health.

Dr Pitts said the campaign, which calls for cash to open new clinics at Wagga and Dubbo, could potentially expand right across the state.

"The main goal is so kids and their families don't have to travel to places like Sydney to access more specialised and allied health services," she said.

"[The aim is] bringing it to our doorstep basically ... being able to do things here rather than have patients and their families travel more than 500 kilometres for something we should be able to do here."

RFW has called for funds to set up a three-year pilot program to expand its developmental assessment and treatment service.

The Manly clinic has been co-funded by NSW Health for more two decades and the charity said the extension of this service would require an uplift from the government of up to $6 million per annum by the 2027 financial year.

The proposed Wagga service would have on-the-ground staff and visiting clinicians, supported by telehealth to ensure efficient and regular services for children with developmental challenges.

RFW said the new model would allow it to see more families where they live and grow its service capacity.

The Wagga clinic would be developed hand-in-glove with the NSW Ministry of Health, the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) and other key local stakeholders.

The clinic would provide tier-4 level paediatric developmental assessment service in Wagga delivered by the MLHD, with tertiary level peer support from the RFW's child and family multi-disciplinary team.

The RFW team would be a combination of local staff, telehealth and outreach. A local community paediatrician would primarily provide paediatric care, with RFW support as required.

Dr Pitts said children and families were currently forced to wait up to two-and-a-half years for treatment due to demand and a Wagga clinic would help alleviate some of the ever-increasing pressure, which was outstripping population growth.

The government has been urged to fund the centre because more services were needed "as soon as possible". Dr Pitts said there wasn't a simple answer for what's driving the soaring demand for paediatric services.

"The population has grown, there are more people regionally, but also people are struggling more, so finances are tighter for people, and this has a knock-on effect on their health," she said.

"Post-COVID, we're seeing a lot more mental health issues, both in adults and children, so that stems to all sorts of medical and mental health issues."

Dr Pitts said it had also been "very hard" to attract doctors and allied health regionally.

"We just don't have the staff to deal with it all," she said.

Wagga GP and former Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) president Ayman Shenouda has also backed calls for a clinic in Wagga.

Dr Shenouda said RFW provided treatments that help supplement the work of GPs and paediatricians, and he believed a Wagga clinic would help reduce pressure on the system.

"I will endorse anything that supports better [patient] outcomes," he said.

Dr Shenouda also believed having a RFW clinic locally would provide better holistic support for those who need it in the region, averting the need for families to travel all the way to Sydney for treatment.

"Having a clinic here in Wagga would save a lot of time and effort [for people]," he said.