Wait times for Bay of Plenty children needing specialist care third worst in the country

Breanna Turner from Altogether Autism said wait times were putting a massive strain on around 600 families in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / Ben Fraser

Bay children with disabilities or developmental problems are facing delays of more than 120 days to get specialist help despite a Government pledge to cut wait times.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Education showed the Bay of Plenty region had the third-longest wait times for intervention in the country, with an average of 123 days per case.

Last year's Budget projected that waiting times would be halved by Government funding increases for the sector.

However, children with communications difficulties, development delays, or disabilities were waiting longer for specialist support to help them learn and participate at home or in early childhood education.

Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin told NZME not enough had been done and that the $21.5 million put into the system last year "just hasn't worked".

Local parents and specialists said these wait times were having lifelong impacts on affected children.

Altogether Autism regional co-ordinator for parent-to-parent Breanna Turner said the system was "broken" and the wait times were putting a massive strain on the 600 or so families she dealt with in the Bay of Plenty.

Parents were waiting up to two years for the initial diagnosis appointment, then more than 100 days for specialist assistance. Some were paying close to $900 for faster diagnosis and support, she said.

Meg O'Dwyer, a mother of two girls both diagnosed with autism, said through private care she was able to get her daughter diagnosed from a young age and without it "her future would not be so bright".

Having specialist help at a young age was vital to calm her mind and help her pick up skills to excel at preschool with the other children, she said.

Tauranga Special School principal Barrie Wickens said there needed to be a major priority for diagnoses and intervention in children from 0 to 5 years.

Rotorua mother Fran Fitzell said her children were older than 10 when they found out they were on the autism spectrum. If they had been helped earlier, their whole lives would have been different, she said.

"Without early intervention, the people around you have no understanding, including the child, who just think they are a bad kid."

National Party early childhood education spokeswoman Nicola Willis said when National was in Government, they had warned that the system needed to be fixed and were looking at making significant changes.

Ministry of Education deputy secretary sector enablement and support Katrina Casey, said the ministry was actively working to reduce waiting times.

She said recruiting and retaining experienced education psychologists and speech-language therapists continued to be particularly challenging. However, the Ministry of Education was in a much stronger staffing position than they had been in recent times.

Waiariki MP Tamati Coffey said the investment the Government made last year helped acquire 120 additional support staff in the sector.

Labour list MP Jan Tinetti said she was concerned when she heard the figures for the Bay of Plenty and as a past school principal, knew how important it was for children to get help early.

She said she would be in discussions with the minister to see what could be done to improve this locally and would work to advocate for more.

DELAYED CARE

Average wait times for early intervention:

• Tai Tokerau: 73 days
• Auckland: 101 days
• Waikato: 102 days
• Bay of Plenty/Waiariki: 123 days
• Hawke's Bay/Tairawhiti: 98 days
• Taranaki/Whanganui/Manawatu: 128 days
• Wellington: 178 days
• Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast: 47 days
• Canterbury/Chatham Islands: 89 days
• Otago/Southland: 81 days
• National: 106 days

- Ministry of Education, April 2019