A TOP medical chief has called upon Health Minister Kim Hames to provide “a firm dollar commitment” to the Peel Health Campus children’s ward.
Former president of the Federal Australian Medical Association, Associate Professor Rosanna Capolingua said it could take several years before the ward is staffed by around-the-clock specialist pediatricians and said it was down to the Government to stump up the cash to attract experts to the region.
“The pediatricians in the Peel region do a very good job but in reality we don’t have the workforce to provide 24/7 cover at Peel and it may be a few years before we do,” Professor Capolingua said.
“It’s important that we deliver services at home for kids: it’s going to take a while to achieve that.
“The focus is how do we keep looking after kids at that level?
“The Government has to purchase the services.”
In an interview on September 30, Dr Hames said the PHC children’s ward was ideally suited to support an overflow of patients from the new Perth Children’s Hospital, because only a fraction of its 12 beds were currently in use.
"If you look at Peel Health Campus they’ve got a whole new-build children’s ward […] it’s only used to a small capacity because we don’t have the specialists there available to do the treatment,” Dr Hames said.
Dr Hames said there had not been enough demand for pediatricians at the hospital to warrant extended services.
“The State Government is focussed on providing high quality care closer to home, including pediatric care and I encourage those in the Peel region to utilise the PHC pediatric service to its full capacity.
“While people in the Peel Region have 24-hour access to a pediatrician at PHC, if demand for various pediatric services increase there is certainly the scope to increase these services.”
But Associate Professor Capolingua said there was no around-the-clock pediatric service at the children’s ward, but specialists could be attracted to the region if the Government invested in local services.
“There is some pediatric cover [at PHC] but certainly not 24/7 cover,” she said.
“He is the health minister, the Government has to fund services; they have to spend the money to attract the specialists to the region.
“We’re pushing very hard, we need a firm dollar commitment down there.”
Associate Professor Capolingua said a lack of pediatricians was an issue across Western Australia, but regional pockets had greater difficulty in securing staff.
A spokesperson for PHC operator Ramsay Health Care said the children’s ward offered general pediatric services and straightforward elective surgery.
“The ward was built to cater for the current demand at the time and for future capacity: we have not yet reached that capacity.”