A new Child and Adolescent Clinical Services Expert Panel will plan and improve healthcare services for Canberra’s children and young people.

The ACT Government made the announcement a couple of hours before Canberra Liberals MLA Leanne Castley is due to call for the ACT Government to immediately improve health care for very sick and deteriorating children at the Canberra Hospital, following four preventable deaths.

• Canberra Liberals: Healthcare for children must be improved (21 September)

The Expert Panel will oversee the finalisation of the Child and Adolescent Clinical Services Plan, a priority action under the ACT Health Services Plan 2022-2030.

Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health, said the Expert Panel will examine forecast population needs, consider areas for service expansion, and improve integration between primary, specialist, acute, and interstate clinical services.

It will take into account workforce planning and professional development, and monitor the implementation of Canberra Health Services’ paediatric operational and service plan developed in 2021 and the Kids Interstate Shared Care Project undertaken in partnership with the Health Care Consumers’ Association in 2020.

The Expert Panel will be led by an independent chair, and include experts with clinical experience in paediatrics, a consumer representative, and academics.

The Panel will engage with consumers, health care specialists and teams, children’s service networks, non-government organisations, and other ACT Government agencies involved in the care of children and adolescents.

“We understand that families, carers, and the wider community want to know how we are addressing the clinical service needs of Canberra’s children and young people,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “The Expert Panel will bring further transparency and accountability to this work by sharing information with the community as we progress.

“The ACT Government is committed to delivering and investing in quality health care services that are age-appropriate and family-centred. I look forward to my first meeting with the Expert Panel in the next few weeks as we continue to build and strengthen services for children, adolescents, and their families and carers.”

The Child and Adolescent Clinical Services Expert Panel will be engaged for 12 months, and could be extended following a review in July 2023.