Positive signs but minister non-committal over rural child health boost

On Wednesday, Independents Joe McGirr, Helen Dalton, Roy Butler and Philip Donato met with Mr Park to discuss securing more funding for paediatric services.

The delegation outlined their support for the Manly-based regional children's healthcare charity Royal Far West in its bid for funding to kick off a three-year pilot program to open up new centres in regional NSW.

RFW is currently looking to open up centres in both Dubbo and Wagga, with the move set to boost paediatric healthcare services across regional NSW, where children are forced to wait for years just to see a paediatrician.

Ms Dalton said it was great to finally meet with the minister, as the Independents worked for some time to secure the meeting.

In a positive sign, she noted Ryan Park was "very supportive of Royal Far West" and said he "understands" their operations are quite expensive to run.

"We have a crisis in the bush with a lack of paediatricians, so we need Royal Far West or some other health care delivery group to come in and take up that slack," she said.

Ms Dalton strongly believes regional NSW should not "be discriminated against" but said the situation seem to be getting worse year by year.

She is also calling for the proposed RFW centre to be located in Griffith instead of Wagga if the funding is secured.

But despite the positive sentiments from the minister, Ms Dalton said he was non-committal to providing the funds in this year's budget.

"He was saying we need another $18 million, and that he'd have to talk to the treasury, so he didn't really give any firm commitment as to that and how long it would take," she said.

Ms Dalton said the shortage of children's health services is particularly bad in the western Riverina.

She stressed there is an acute shortage of paediatricians in Griffith in particular, but noted there is also a great need for more "wrap-around services," including speech therapists and occupational therapists.

"We need all of those services to ensure our kids are on track developmentally," she said.

Meanwhile, member for Wagga Joe McGirr hailed the meeting as a "productive" step and said the four MPs "put [forward] a strong case for significantly improved paediatric assessment and treatment services to the regions".

"We took the opportunity to discuss with the minister our support for Royal Far West's proposal to establish new clinics in Wagga and Dubbo as part of a three-year pilot program," Dr McGirr said.

He said the MPs also discussed how important it is to boost the numbers of rural and regional health professionals so that they can "deliver the care that all children deserve".

"The minister acknowledged the need to improve these services and understood the concerns of our communities," Dr McGirr said.

"I look forward to continuing to work with the government to bring about these important improvements."

Following the meeting, health minister Ryan Park said he appreciated the advocacy by the four MPs on behalf of their constituents.

"I am grateful for the advocacy of Helen, Dr Joe, Phil and Roy, and I will continue to work closely and constructively with them," Mr Park said.

But despite this, the minister clearly indicated he will not be interfering with the budget process before it is handed down next month.

"The Treasurer is in the process of preparing the budget, after having received submissions from community groups right across the state, and I will let that process run its course," he said.

"But I understand the challenges that workforce shortages present to accessing healthcare in the bush."

Mr Park also outlined a "range of measures" the Minns government is taking on to boost healthcare access in regional, rural and remote communities.

He said these include doubling rural health incentives, boosting doctors in regional GP surgeries as well as hospitals through the single employer model, rolling out key worker accommodation and delivering an extra 500 regional paramedics.