Child development services
204. Ms Libby Mettamto theMinister for Health:
I refer to the Perth mother who has been advised that her child will have to wait at least 42 months to see a paediatrician.
(1) Is this acceptable?
(2) How is it that the government cannot explain this delay for this child?
(3) Does the minister find it acceptable that the average wait time across the state to see a paediatrician is 22.8 months?
Ms Meredith Hammat replied:
(1)–(3) I thank the member for the question. We know how important child development services are for Western Australian children and their families. We are incredibly proud of our CDS, as it is called. It is unlike any other service in the country because it provides both diagnosis and treatment for the children that it sees. For that reason, we are incredibly proud of it and the work that it is doing.
We are always concerned to hear stories about people having difficulty accessing the assistance they need. That is why in last year's budget, we made a commitment to increase the CDS budget by almost $40 million to increase staffing by 100 across a range of different disciplines and locations. This was, and is, the largest staffing uplift in child development services in over 10 years. It is a significant investment into making sure we have additional staff in that service.
We know that the waitlist continues to grow and there is demand in the community. We are always looking at what more we can do; hence, as I say, the uplift of $39 million just last year. But we have not stopped there. We are looking at other ways we can ensure that we are maximising the access parents and children have to those services. As part of that, we have co-located child development services in the recently opened community hubs in Midland, which opened in September 2024, and Murdoch, which opened in December last year. We are trialling Saturday opening hours at two CDS sites, in Joondalup and Rockingham, to provide more access for families, and we are commencing a nurse-led pilot program that provides new treatment pathways for kids with attention and concentration issues. Those trials are underway at Armadale and Joondalup.
As I have said before, we are always looking at what more we can do. As well as the increase in funding, the 100 additional staff and looking at different ways we can deliver care, we will continue to look at what more we can do.
205. Ms Libby Mettam to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question.
How many of the recommendations from the Select Committee into Child Development Services' report have been actioned?
Ms Meredith Hammat replied:
That is not a supplementary.
The Speaker: Member, that is not really a supplementary.
Ms Libby Mettam: It is.
The Speaker: It is not.
Ms Libby Mettam: You don't know your brief.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members from both sides! Member, it was not related to the first question.
Ms Libby Mettam: It was.
The Speaker: Do you want to rephrase it? I will give you the option if you want to rephrase the supplementary.
Ms Libby Mettam: Yes. Outside of the funding announced last year, which the minister referred to, how many of the recommendations from the Select Committee into Child Development Services' report have been actioned?
Ms Meredith Hammat: I will just make the comment that the original question related to a particular individual who was waiting to access services. There was no mention of those things.
Ms Libby Mettam: That is what the report is about.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That may be maybe true. Nonetheless—
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Member, Treasurer, please. The minister has the call.
Ms Meredith Hammat: Let me just reiterate that we are doing a range of things and looking at all we can do to help meet the need of the community in relation to child development services. As I said, we have already made a range of commitments and we will continue to look at what more we can do. I am always very concerned when I hear stories such as the one the member has raised today.
