Shining a light on our kids' health crisis

Imagine if you didn't have access to the public health services and support you needed.

Or, in order to get that support, you had to travel hundreds of kilometres and/or fork out thousands of dollars for a single appointment.

Now, think about that from a child's perspective. How about from the perspective of a parent or carer who is at their wits' end trying to get that child help before it's too late.

Dan Berryman is like so many other dads out there, but he's frustrated.

Mr Berryman's son, Charlie, struggles with developmental delays and behavioural problems.

The now six-year-old couldn't get an appointment with a paediatrician in the public health system and was only able to see a private one because a family member helped fund the visit.

It's a story that is repeated in almost every regional community.

On Monday last week the front pages of five ACM daily newspapers, in Wagga, Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and Tamworth, and websites in dozens of regional NSW centres large and small, carried headlines that screamed: "REVEALED: The health funding crisis harming our kids".

The story revealed some children with significant development challenges are being forced to wait up to six years to see a paediatrician in regional NSW.

The average wait time is 18 months and in some parts of the state families are being told there is no local service at all.

Tamworth has a wait time of up to six years, Wagga three years, Orange two-and-a-half years and Coffs Harbour and Bega about two years.

The significance of this issue cannot be underestimated.

The flow-on effects of a child not being able to access the behavioural and development support they need - and close to home - can be directly linked to some of the major challenges we face in our regions.

Those challenges include spiralling youth crime, pressure on hospital emergency departments, and difficulty maintaining education resourcing and outcomes.

This is a paediatric crisis facing regional NSW and it has been described as a sliding doors moment for these kids.

We need action now.

Our initial story told of how fewer kids living in regional areas were on track for key developmental milestones when starting school, compared to their city counterparts.

Those milestones include physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, as well as communication skills and general knowledge.

We cannot, and should not, be the city's poor cousin.

We have some amazing paediatricians across regional NSW but they are stretched far too thinly.

Wagga's Doctor Theresa Pitts describes the situation as a "national crisis" - the scale of which we won't realise until we see future generations.

Narromine GP Niro Wickramasing says she has run out of options when referring children for specialist paediatric appointments.

At Orange, the co-director of a service that specialises in therapeutic intervention for neurodiverse children, Sarah MacInnes, says her heart breaks having to watch children wait years to get the help they need.

This is more than just a child's health. It's about their development. It's about giving them all the tools they need to thrive and receive an education.

For some, it's about keeping them off the streets and out of jail cells.

It's also about supporting their parents and other family members. It's about freeing up already overwhelmed emergency departments and helping alleviate pressures faced by our teachers.

We don't want a lack of support for our kids to be why we can't attract teachers to our schools and keep them there. We don't want our kids to become caught up in the next youth crime wave gripping the community we call home.

We've seen some movement from the Minns government, including around the strengthening of bail laws to curb youth crime, but that's responsive action.

What we need is preventative action and the adequate funding of services that help our kids.

Royal Far West is appealing to the state government for funding to develop two new paediatric clinics in Dubbo and Wagga.

It isn't asking the world. It's not even asking for much money, just $6 million.

That is a drop in the ocean of a state health budget measured in tens of billions of dollars - a drop that will have a positive ripple effect across communities in regional NSW and prevent a potential tsunami of crime, health and educational issues in the future.

Let's act now, before it's too late.