As you may be aware, we’ve been in contact with governments around the country to assess the level of awareness of the issues associated with managing paediatric gastro-oesophageal reflux around the country.
In Western Australia, the circumstances are pretty bad. There are very few paediatric gastroenterologists and we know of families who have had to fly children to the east coast to have them seen by paediatric gastroenterologists only to be prescribed a medication that could have been prescribed by a GP or paediatrician in WA. Problem solved.
Anecdotally, we’re being told that the waiting time to see a paediatric gastroenterologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth is two years. We’d be happy to be proven wrong. And we must emphasise that this is no slight on the paediatric gastroenterologists in WA. Its just that there’s just not enough of them to go around!
This isn’t good enough but the Western Australian government is clearly not across the issue.
If you would like to get involved in forming a specific Western Australian Advocacy Group for RISA, please email risa@reflux.org.au. We are currently looking for a co-ordinator for such a group.
Correspondence
20120308 WA Minister letter RISA