The Latrobe Regional Hospital says there is no need to bring in additional paediatricians to see children who were exposed to smoke from last year’s Hazelwood mine fire in south-east Victoria.
Community group Voices of the Valley has called on the Health Department to immediately deploy health professionals to treat children who are still sick from the fire.
The group said parents had been told there was a six-month waiting list to see a paediatrician.
The hospital’s chief medical officer and paediatrician, Dr Simon Fraser, said the actual waiting period to see a public paediatrician was three months and a child could be seen immediately if they were acutely unwell.
“If a child was not acutely unwell but the general practitioner was concerned and was concerned that three months was a long time, then the communication directly with the paediatrician, then the child would be seen a lot sooner than that,” he said.
“We provide a very extensive paediatric service at Latrobe Regional Hospital and I believe that the needs of the community is well met by what the hospital provides already.”