Years on end...the tyranny of distance | Farm Online - video Dailymotion

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In the Wimmera Southern Mallee region of western Victoria, a higher percentage of children start school 'developmentally vulnerable' compared to children in the city.

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00:00Children in our rural area are starting to score developmentally vulnerable.

00:07Accessing care and services, regardless of where you live, should be a right.

00:12In rural Victoria, you're faced with the tyranny of distance.

00:16To see a paediatrician, they may have to travel over two and a half hours or even longer.

00:21That's not interrupting their day, that's interrupting their week.

00:25There's really good established medical services in the area.

00:30The issue is there's a large gap in waiting times.

00:33Wait times to access a face-to-face paediatrician are in excess of 12 months for an urgent referral.

00:39That's 12 months of progress that we've really lost.

00:42There's a lot of evidence to say that we can get these children up to speed and get them ready for school,

00:47along with all their peers, if we can get that support in.

00:50Without access to paediatric care, the divide just continues.

00:55The problem is real. Families are suffering.

01:03Kovu is our eight-year-old son, our eldest.

01:06He's always been a really busy child.

01:09Then he started school and that's when the challenges started to show.

01:13It wasn't a smooth journey, being on wait lists for years on end.

01:18All research shows that early intervention is the key,

01:21but when you are stuck in the country and you don't have access to early intervention, you're pretty helpless.

01:27I've got families, they may be on paediatric waiting lists for a year, two years, three years, even more.

01:34So for us to be able to link in, within a couple of weeks if necessary, with a paediatrician,

01:39families just can't believe that.

01:42By Five have partnered with the Royal Children's Hospital to support families and children

01:46to access what they need, when they need it, where they live.

01:53So what happens is the child will go to their usual practitioner,

01:58it can be a maternal child health nurse or a GP, and we log on from our end and we run the appointment.

02:03That's it.

02:05We work really closely with the team on the ground in the Wimmera.

02:11Joining them in their rooms in real time, rather than this kind of agonising wait on a waiting list,

02:17not knowing what's happening with your child.

02:19It's really rare to have a multidisciplinary model like this, where it's non-hierarchical.

02:24Everybody's hearing the same information, same time, and things can actually happen straight away.

02:30We've had school teachers, principals, all involved in the consultation,

02:34maternal child nurses all involved in the consultations.

02:37We're in the loop, parents are in the loop, that's brilliant.

02:41To be in a position where you're actually having a co-consult with someone who knows the family really well,

02:46you feel like you're really building the village around the child.

02:50Having the extra support staff involved in the consult, the parents sitting with that

02:55and being able to then trust us and engage with us, knowing that we get it, it goes a long way.

03:01We've picked up some great things as a combined team that families just may not have picked up

03:05until a lot later in life, so the results that we're seeing here are just fabulous.

03:11Kovu has been diagnosed with ADHD and a specific learning disorder similar to dyslexia.

03:18Without By5, we would still be a name on a wait list two, three years down the track without any intervention.

03:27In a rural setting, you're enmeshed in a community.

03:30The joy you get from knowing people and then trusting you and accepting you, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

03:38Meeting some of the local professionals, it's infectious, their care for the community and the kids that they look after.

03:46I live in the community and I want to see our children grow and thrive and develop normally and well and healthy

03:52and give them every opportunity that we can.

03:55Never underestimate the innovation and resourcefulness of rural people

03:59and this was created by local people who are passionate about having better outcomes for the children of their community

04:05and it works.

04:08We're just so grateful that we've been able to access these supports.

04:13If we didn't have By5, we wouldn't have the access, we wouldn't have the knowledge.

04:16I feel like we've improved a lot, as well as Hunter.

04:20By5 has really helped me, just honing my diagnostic skills, my understanding and management of children

04:26with complex behavioural issues and support them in their growth and development.

04:31By5 has changed our practice because it's given us a whole other level of care that we can access for our families.

04:37It's made a huge difference to the outcomes for our children.

04:41Being able to access this paediatric service ensures that our children are getting the care equal to every other child in the state.

04:48We deserve that, our families deserve that.

04:51Daisy, here. Up. Sit. Sit down.

04:59I can pay attention better at school now.

05:03I like maths because I know my numbers good.

05:08And I like my writing because I like to write stories.

05:12By5 has just been the support that we've needed.

05:18He's confident and happy at school, and all reports from his teachers are that he's still cheeky, but he's a delight to teach.

05:27Fair and equitable access to care is one of the pillars for the Children's Hospital, and in fact, our vision is a world where all kids thrive.

05:35We work better when we work together, and I think that's something the By5 project does so well.

05:42By5 gives kids the chance to meet their potential within their own community.

05:49It's just been incredible what we've been able to achieve with what we have right here in the region.

05:54And I hope it keeps going for a long time to come.

Years on end...the tyranny of distance | Farm Online

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