Children and young people living in care across the Yorke Peninsula and northern part of regional South Australia, for the first time have access to specialist health care closer to home – reducing lengthy trips to Adelaide for appointments.
From this month, paediatricians from Yorke and Northern Local Health Network (YNLHN), have started providing a monthly Out of Home Care Clinic to support children and young people in care, aged 0 to 18, with medical, developmental, behavioural and complex paediatric needs.
The service, which is a partnership with the Department for Child Protection (DCP), is linking in with local health professionals including hospital staff, GPs, allied health and community services to ensure continuity of care for children and young people in their own community.
The clinic is also engaging Aboriginal health practitioners from YNLHN when working with Aboriginal children and families, ensuring culturally safe, family-centred care.
DCP staff in Port Pirie and Kadina, and local GPs, are referring children to the clinic, which operates out of the GP Plus Health Care Centre in Port Pirie.
As part of the clinic, children and young people will receive Comprehensive Health and Development Assessments, which aim to identify and assess the holistic needs of individual children and young people.
These assessments cover physical, developmental, psychosocial and mental health, and include areas such as speech and communication, cognitive development and behavioural.
Quotes attributable to Darian Shephard-Bayly, Acting Chief Executive, Department for Child Protection
Children in care can often deal with really complex health and developmental needs, and getting the right support early can make such a big difference to their future.
That’s why this new Out of Home Care Clinic is so important. It’s the second one set up in a regional area in South Australia, after Mount Gambier, and means children in Port Pirie and Kadina can get specialist care close to home - without having to travel long distances.
This clinic shows what we can achieve when agencies work side by side. It’s a great example of SA Health and the Department for Child Protection coming together to make things easier and better for children and young people.
Quotes attributable to Erin Martin, Clinical Senior Social Worker for the Prevention and Response to Violence, Abuse and Neglect, Yorke and Northern Local Health Network
This new Out of Home Care Clinic in Port Pirie will have a really significant impact on carers and families in providing health care much closer to home.
Extra travel comes with additional costs, time away from school, increased pressure and stress on carers and families. Children will now be able to pop out of school or childcare and make the short trip to GP Plus in Port Pirie.
By allowing us to get this baseline perspective early, we can put the right supports in place to ensure good health outcomes for children and young people.