Childrens’ charity Royal Far West has received a boost in funding, aimed at extending their Paediatric Developmental Program so that students have their best shot at school and socialising. 

The extra $369,000 from the NSW Government will be used to help Royal Far West help families living in rural areas access clinical assessment, diagnosis, planning, and referral to specialist care that can’t be accessed locally.   

“Once we had five paediatricians in Dubbo, now we have two,” Royal Far West Chair and Angledool local Joan Treweeke said.   

“The demand has just exploded.”  

“With covid and a lot of the floods and fires and things that traumatise children, the childrens’ needs just got more complex.” 

With health access already a challenge in rural and regional areas, the NSW Government said the boost to the Royal Far West will at least allow the charity to employ more paediatricians to assist local families.  

“We’re very much a part of the health infrastructure in NSW,” Mrs Treweeke said.  

Mrs Treweeke said that there are around 190,000 children who need developmental assistance, from learning to speak, socialise, and comprehend what’s happening in a classroom setting.   

“Children who go to school unable to speak properly, their learning will be held back.” 

“Unless it’s identified early, they never really catch up.” 

While an important service, it’s also one in high-demand, with Royal Far West still looking to fill a backlog from Covid-19 and more children continuing to be identified in need of assistance.  

President of Royal Far West’s Coonamble Branch Irene Reeves said that in her 40 years as part of the branch, she’s never seen such a backlog.  

“The waitlist is astronomical,” Mrs Reeves said.  

“Some are in dire need of more urgent administration to get in there but they’ve still got to wait their turn.” 

“They could be in (kindergarten) now and by the time they get it they could be nearly looking at going to high school, which is not good.”  

Royal Far West CEO Jacqueline Emery said that she hopes the funding boost will help to address the backlog.   

“The additional funding recognises the increasing complexity we are seeing, coupled with the worrying ongoing situation in paediatric out-patient services that is continuing to unfold across rural and remote NSW. “ 

Royal Far West will celebrate 100 years of service this year.