Lack of sufficient health services for our kids 'scary', says city leader

On Friday, NSW Premier Chris Minns said he would consider supporting Royal Far West in its push to expand its developmental assessment and treatment service with new clinics established in Wagga and Dubbo.

It came after a weeks-long campaign by ACM mastheads supporting Royal Far West's calls for the NSW government to provide $2 million per annum between 2025 and 2027 for the clinics.

Cr Parkins said anything that could be done to limit the amount of travel people needed to do to access medical services, in particular paediatric services was important.

"When children are so small and vulnerable, it's really important to keep the support base around them. That's what really jumps out at me the most. A lot of parents have multiple children, or if you're a single mum, unable to be with your family, I find that really difficult," she said.

"If a hub like this in Wagga could reduce some of those stresses on families, that would be really wonderful."

Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson said Dubbo Regional Council had no official position on Royal Far West's plan.

However, he said anything that brought services to regional areas was a fantastic thing.

"The health and safety of our community is a priority for council, as outlined in our Community Strategic Plan, including that effective medical services and facilities are available," he said.

"While we have not been approached on this occasion for an official position, I hope the collaboration between Royal Far West and the Western Health District assists our community, especially for our children and youth."

Orange City Council mayor Jason Hamling acknowledged the cost and angst parents had when they had to travel to Sydney to access health services.

"In Orange we're in a fairly good position for a lot of things ... but obviously the further west you get the worse it gets," Cr Hamling said.

Overall, Cr Parkins believes having a Royal Far West clinic in Wagga couldn't be "anything other than really positive for the city and the Riverina."

"It's a bit scary really that we don't have [sufficient] services already and that there's potentially children missing out because they can't access it... for years.. [while] that window of opportunity to fix things is disappearing," Cr Parkins said.

On Friday during the community cabinet trip to the Central West, Premier Chris Minns said he would look at Royal Far West's proposal.

It was the first time he has acknowledged the campaign.

However, Mr Minns said the government would have to look at it "in concert with money the state government's putting in, as well as the federal government".

The proposed services in Wagga Wagga and Dubbo would include on-the-ground staff and visiting clinicians, supported by telehealth services, to ensure regular and efficient care for children with developmental challenges.

The new service model would allow Royal Far West to see more families where they live and grow their service capacity.

The team would work with local services and clinicians throughout the assessment process, including case conferencing, and roles would include a clinical nurse coordinator or other care navigator role, as well as an Indigenous health officer.

Children would be discharged to local services for treatment where possible. Where there are gaps and no local services are available, children may be offered treatment and care from Royal Far West, including through NDIS.