WENDY Lovell, the Member for Northern Victoria, has called on the State Government to provide funding to ensure the smooth establishment of a new paediatric service in Mooroopna.
The bulk-billed service, due to commence on February 1, 2022, will be operated by two paediatricians as well as support staff and located at the Mooroopna Integrated Early Learning Centre.
Speaking during the adjournment debate in State Parliament recently, Ms Lovell called on Minister for Health, Martin Foley, to provide funding of $30K to help establish the new paediatric service and provide recurrent funding of $2K each year to ensure the operation of the service into the future.
Although there are nine paediatricians based in the Goulburn Valley region, seven are based at GV Health and deal predominately with hospitalised children and the demand for paediatric services in the area is overwhelmingly high. Patients regularly wait a minimum of six months for an initial consultation and in some cases up to two years.
Ms Lovell said that recent Australian Early Development Census data revealed that Greater Shepparton rates are above the State average in many categories of childhood disadvantage including physical disabilities, emotional problems, social deprivation, and communication.
