By ALESHA CAPONE
THE State Government’s two main parties have butted heads on a petition which more than 200 MPs have signed, in favour of more funding for a children’s service at Sunshine Hospital.
Keilor Labor MP Natalie Hutchins has tabled a petition of 210 signatures in parliament, advocating for the Children’s Allied Health Service (CAHS).
The petition said the CAHS was no longer accepting multidisciplinary assessment referrals for preschool children with disabilities starting school this year.
Last year, Star revealed Western Health sent a letter to kindergartens services, advising them CAHS would cease accepting referrals due to increased demand.
The CAHS provides physiotherapy, speech pathology and other medical services to children with autism and other diagnoses.
Ms Hutchins said the families of children who miss out on CAHS appointments were instead spending about $1500 on private assessments.
Last year, Brimbank City Council’s administrators voted to raise the issue at a meeting of the Municipal Association of Victoria.
The council agenda said CAHS’s “inability to provide services is directly related to the growth that the western region of Melbourne is experiencing and their funding which has not been revisited since 2008”.
However, a spokesperson for the Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, Wendy Lovell, said the government already provided more than $1 million annually to Western Health “to provide specialist health services for children who have difficulties in one or more areas of development before they start school”.
“There has been no reduction in this funding,” the spokesperson said.
“All children who started school this year and needed an assessment, received one.
“Western Health continues to provide assessments for any child referred.
“The department continues to work with Western Health in 2014 to meet demand for assessments.”
