Dr Patrick Stark from Northeast Children’s Clinic in Wangaratta launched a monthly clinic in March and, with the support of Tomorrow Today and Benalla Rural City Council, more local families will be able to access this much-needed service.
As many parents will understand, when your child needs to visit a medical specialist, it can be a daunting experience.
In regional Australia, it is often compounded by the need to travel long distances to access services, extended wait times to get an appointment and, of course, the significant financial costs involved.
For many Benalla families, these barriers mean that they are unable to access the services their children need.
In May 2024, Tomorrow Today began gathering information about how significant this issue was in Benalla.
It discovered that there were no specialist paediatric services in Benalla, since the retirement, in 2023, of a paediatrician from Wangaratta who came to Benalla regularly.
On top of this, the cost for some families is not within their budget.
Patients needed to pay a $130 out-of-pocket fee and then a $250 Medicare-refundable balance on the day of the appointment.
Informal data provided by some of Benalla’s schools and preschools indicated that many students referred to a paediatrician by their teacher did not follow up due to financial constraints.
Benalla P-12 College Avon St campus principal, Jo Treacy said parents tell the school a key barrier to seeking specialist care is their financial circumstances.
“Several students complete another year of school without receiving the support they require because they are never taken to see the professionals,” Ms Treacy said .
Tomorrow Today executive officer, Jodie Fleming, said the issue needed addressing.
“We see families who are referred to access paediatric services and then not do so because of the barriers of timely access, financial constraints and distance,” she said.
“We knew that there was something we could do to reduce the financial burden.
“The Tomorrow Today board approved a 12-month trial to fund the $130 gap payment for eligible families.
“We were delighted when Northeast Children’s Clinic agreed to bulk bill those families supported by Tomorrow Today.”
Benalla Rural City Council has also been supportive of this initiative and have provided a room free-of-charge at Benalla Community Care for Dr Stark to consult from.
“When the previous paediatrician retired, that was a big loss to the community;” Dr Stark said.
“It has always been the plan to come to Benalla because we want to take away the barriers that families face. One of them is travel and the cost of that.”
Reducing wait times for families is also important to Dr Stark.
“We try to keep our wait times reasonable, and we triage appointments so that people who require an urgent appointment can be seen sooner.
“Having the clinic in Benalla has helped to reduce the wait time a little, and we’re hoping to employ additional staff at our clinic over the next 12 months, which will ease the situation further.”
Paediatric appointments require a GP or other medical professional referral.
Benalla families with a child aged up to 8 years of age who require financial assistance can be referred to Tomorrow Today by their child’s school, preschool or GP.
For more information about North East Children’s clinic visit www.nechildrensclinic.com.au/
For more information about Tomorrow Today visit tomorrowtoday.com.au/ or call 5762 1211.
