After 30 years of running a free immunisation clinic for children, Dubbo Regional Council will no longer provide the service.
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The monthly clinics will be transferred to the Western NSW Local Health District- Women’s and Children’s Services as of June 30.
In a report to council, director community services David Dwyer said the number of children attending the clinic had fallen significantly in recent years because of other organisations offering the immunisations.
“It is now considered that council’s support of this service is no longer required to provide adequate immunisation service access for Dubbo residents,” Mr Dwyer said.
“Council can transfer its support of the free clinic service to the sole responsibility of the Women’s and Children’s Services without adverse impact on the overall levels of immunisation within the community.”
In the 2012/13 financial year there were an average of 92.7 children who attended the clinic every month, with a peak of 124 people in September in 2012. For the 2016/17 year to date there have been an average of 51.7 children at the clinics.
Mr Dwyer said immunisation was not a core role of local government and significant council staff and financial resources were provided to organise and conduct the immunisation clinics. It also made council’s ground floor conference room unavailable for a full day, he said.