By Fatima Halloum
Families at Truganina South Primary School will have access to two paediatricians on campus as part of a pilot program.
The School Outreach Clinic involves a partnership with Mercy Health and Community Hubs Australia, which enables the school community access to the clinic every Friday.
Principal Linda Danese said the school was “very very honoured“ to host the paediatricians and says she is extremely proud to be involved in a school that has the community at its core.
“We were approached as one of the schools in the area with a community to participate in the initiative and we just jumped on board,“ she said.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to have this for our families who are struggling and to be supporting them with a service that sometimes can be a bit more difficult to access.“
Ms Danese said the service was “absolutely essential“ and referrals can be made by teachers, the school’s leadership and well being team and parents, who then complete relevant consent forms before an appointment is made for the child and parent to be seen by the paediatrician.
“More so now than ever before, children are presenting at school with a lot of issues [like] trauma, and other things teachers can’t diagnose,“ she said.
“But now we can have that treated and looked at as quickly as possible.
“We’re already seeing the benefits of the families being able to access a paediatrician almost immediately, and for children to receive the support and the care that they need, we’ve already noticed really positive changes in them.“
Ms Danese said the service is bulk billed through Medicare and provides families with medical assessments in a confidential and welcoming space.
“It’s really important that the child is part of the visit,“ she said.
“It’s not a one-off, we’re all working together.“
