Two-year wait: Frustrated Warrnambool residents desperate for NDIS help

Tayla Mackay's son Vincent Hough, 8, has level two autism and ADHD.

Miss Mackay said he was very intelligent and performed very well academically at school.

However, he finds it difficult to interact with other children.

"He struggles with friendships and social cues and understanding other people," Miss Mackay said.

She said she had been able to get him some of the support he needed, but he had been on a waiting list to see an occupational therapist for two years.

"I just want to help my son the best I can," Miss Mackay said.

"I'm thinking about the future - I want my son to be able to do things and feel confident doing them."

Miss Mackay said she was often told to consider telehealth, but she didn't think that was a very good option for her son, who was easily distracted.

Kim Young, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, said she had heard from a large number of people who were forced to wait long periods of time for services.

In her case, she got approval for a wheelchair but then had to wait six months to have the doors widened in her home.

Mrs Young said the NDIS system was a great way to help people retain and develop independence, but there were issues for people in certain areas accessing services.

The Standard is aware of one south-west psychologist who is booked out for the remainder of 2023 and all of 2024 while another has advised they have a waiting list of six to 12 months.

A client who tried to book an appointment for play therapy was advised there was a six-month waiting list, while a number of other service providers aren't taking on new clients.

Some clients have been advised to travel to other cities to access services.

Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said she was regularly hearing from constituents who were unable to access services in the region.

"It's a major concern when people aren't able to put in the support systems around people who need them," Ms Britnell said.

She slammed the government for a lack of planning to address skills shortages.

Ms Britnell said politicians had been celebrating low unemployment rates.

However, she said they failed to consider what this meant for so many people.

"The reality of this is that people are struggling because they can't access the services they need," Ms Britnell said.

She said when it came to conditions like autism, it was well documented early intervention was vital.

"I was involved in the autism inquiry and the long-term benefits of early intervention were highlighted," she said.

A state government spokesman hit back at Ms Britnell's comments.

"We won't be lectured on how to deliver healthcare by the Liberal Party who slashed $1 billion from Victoria's health system when they were last in government," the spokesman said.

"We know how important it is for kids to have ready access to the specialist care they need - that's why we've recruited more than 6200 healthcare workers since April last year - including more than 2000 overseas healthcare workers with more than 25 per cent of them working in regional Victoria and almost 900 of them being doctors and dedicating more than half of our medical specialist trainees to regional and rural locations.

"It's clear that after years of neglect by the federal Coalition government that health workforce shortages are a problem across the country - we need more medical practitioners.

"While workforce shortages and training are a Commonwealth responsibility we have stepped in with The Victorian Medical Specialist Training Program to support the training of close to 100 priority specialists across the state in areas of identified workforce shortages, with more than half located in regional and rural areas - ensuring all Victorians have access to specialist care when and where they need it."

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