Concerned parents contacted the Otago Daily Times to share their experiences with accessing paediatric services after it was revealed the Southern health district was forced to decline more than 6000 GP referrals for specialist paediatric treatment in the past three years alone.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) has acknowledged waiting for care could be stressful for families and said new consultants would be available by the end of the month to address workforce challenges.
Kirstyn O’Neill, of Invercargill, said her now-13-year-old son had only recently received a diagnosis for autism and ADHD.
She had been trying to get him a diagnosis since he was 3 and, in that time, had kept being referred between different departments and back to a GP.
The diagnosis only came about after concerned teachers at her son’s school got involved, which pushed the application through to social workers and then to early intervention, Mrs O’Neill said.
There had been a big impact on her son’s education and she had also been put under pressure as a parent to try to manage everything.
"All these declines and long waitlists are taking a toll on parents’ mental health and impact other children within the family circle."
Without schools and other local support groups working alongside families "there would be no support out there and these children would be lost even more within the health system", she said.
She felt let down by the health system and said it felt like she was "going around in circles".
"At one point I had to give up work for, like, three years because the kids were so unsettled," Mrs O’Neill said.
"The teachers were struggling."
Her son’s six-month review was coming up soon, but they were yet to hear anything, she said.
She was also trying to get her other son, aged 12, seen by a specialist and had been waiting for 18 months.
While she had looked at going private, they did not have the financial means.
"We looked at breaking our KiwiSaver to get the kids diagnosed, because that's the point we're at."
A Dunedin mother, who did not want to be named, said her 8-year-old son had been on a waitlist for a review for almost two years now.
He had not met the criteria for immediate assessment and was also declined from other in-school services.
While her son was social and had a lot of friends, he had not progressed beyond the academic level of a new entrant, she said.
"This has had a huge impact both on the family but for our son’s mental health.
"As the time has gone on he can notice and see the difference on himself and ability compared to his peers."
The mother believed her son was not able to get further support because he was not deemed "naughty enough".
She believed there were many children out there like her son who might not meet the requirements to warrant an assessment, but still needed help.
"The systems are failing our children."
HNZ Southern operations group director Craig Ashton previously said they were experiencing workforce challenges, including paediatric consultant and junior medical staff vacancies.
"As a result, we are prioritising appointments based on clinical urgency, and children with less urgent needs may wait longer than usual to be seen."
Recruitment was under way, with new consultants expected to join the service from the end of May.
All referrals were carefully reviewed and triaged by their specialist teams in line with clinical guidelines, he said.
"Where a referral is not accepted, this is generally because the child’s condition can be safely managed in primary care, often with specialist advice provided to support the child’s GP.
"Patients can be re-referred if their condition changes or requires specialist input."
Mr Ashton recognised that waiting for care could be stressful for families and appreciated their patience while HNZ worked through this period of high demand.
"We encourage families awaiting appointments to remain in contact with their GP, who can update referrals if there are changes in a child’s condition."
