Candice Cook struggled to get an ADHD diagnosis for her son, Taylan. But once she did long wait times and inaccessible services made it difficult to stay on the medication he desperately needed.
"The paediatrician Taylan was seeing ended up ceasing practice so I had to find another one as soon as possible," Ms Cook said.
"I had to go through the process again of going to the GP for a new referral and I rang several paediatricians but the wait times were too long.
"We finally got into one at Armadale but we aren't happy so I'm trying to get into somewhere else but I've been told it's a six to 12 month wait."
While on the wait list for other paediatricians, Ms Cook has no choice but to take her son to the Armadale clinic as without the appointments he wouldn't get the medication he needs.
She said he can't function at school without it.
"We can't go without a paediatrician, as Taylan needs to be on his medication," she said.
"He would be constantly in trouble at school before his medicine. It was yellow notes home daily. It would really impact him if we couldn't get the medicine.
"The paediatrician expects us to go every three months for a script. I'm in Pinjarra so it's a long way to go just for medication."
Ms Cook said seeing a paediatrician almost one hour away just to renew a script every few months was becoming increasingly frustrating.
"We have no other reason to see our paediatrician at this stage apart from getting a script. So much time is wasted on both sides," she said.
"It would help if paediatricians would authorise care to be taken over by GPs if families have no need to see them, and perhaps move to a yearly follow-up."
Ms Cook is not the only one struggling to find a paediatrician with many WA parents of children with neurological and behavioural issues unable to get an appointment for a diagnosis or treatment.
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The Hub in Mandurah, which assists with diagnosing and managing children with developmental and behavioural difficulties, is just one of the services struggling to keep up with demand.
According to a spokesperson, the sole paediatrician at The Hub currently has 250 patients on the wait list.
"Dr Michelle Howell has closed her books to new patients as she can't take on anymore at the moment," the spokesperson said.
"We just can't keep up with the demand. Many parents are having to head to Perth for appointments."
"There's a lot of children in school that have ADHD and their parents are trying to get them help but they just can't get in anywhere," Ms Cook said.
"ADHD specifically needs more help as it's one of the main medical issues that children have yet there is no support for it."
