4 | COVID-19 concerns raised by children and young people Children and young people also raised concerns about reduced access to other types of essential medical services: general practitioners, dentists, specialists, paediatricians, and hospitals. Some said they had been unable to see their general practitioner or stay in hospitals because they heard that more urgent cases were being prioritised. Some children and young people with medical conditions expressed a fear of visiting doctors or hospitals because they were scared of contracting the virus or were fearful that they would be denied service. Some children and young people reported that it was their parents who were reluctant to take them to a mental health or physical health service at this time, postponing making an appointment until after the crisis had passed. Reduced or changed access to disability support services (NDIS) was also raised as a concern by some children and young people, including access to school learning support, disability support care and respite care. This reduced access affected family life, adding to family tensions, including when disability support was not available for a sibling with disability. This concern is also reflected in responses to the Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on children with disability and their families. One in three respondents to that survey experienced cancellation of support workers (either by self or service) and NDIS services.9 At the end of April 2020, NDIS announced that until September 2020, existing NDIS plan funding can be used to purchase low-cost Assistive Technology, including smart devices, to enable continued access to disability supports through telehealth and telepractice. This will assist some children and young people and their families to remain connected to their services and disability supports. In addition, a few children and young people expressed concern to Kids Helpline that they would be unable to get their essential medicine or essential supermarket items, because of the lockdown and panic buying. The inability to access necessary supplies was also raised in the CYDA survey as a significant issue for families with children with disability.10 From 6 April 2020, all NDIS participants were assigned a unique home delivery access code to get priority access to supermarket home delivery services. Other types of essential services with an impact on children and young people’s lives which children and young people said had been suspended or changed, included church, youth groups, court services and vet services for their pets. Case studies: Changes to essential services and support ‘Annie’, aged 12, contacted Kids Helpline through web counselling, to speak about her fears. She has been hearing voices. Her mum said that she will take her to the GP, but when they called the GP they said that due to coronavirus people should only come in if it is urgent, or if a hospital has asked them to. ‘Hayley’, aged 15, rang Kids Helpline to say that she has been having increasing thoughts of suicide in the last couple of days due to changes in their residential care because of coronavirus. She hasn’t been able to see her dad as a result of the virus, and several workers that she was close to are not at work due to isolation. This has been making her more anxious, and she has started to selfharm in response. ‘Michael’, aged 16, rang Kids Helpline saying he has been unable to sleep due to his anxiety and thoughts about what was going on in the world at the moment. He is also worried about having to go under quarantine as he lives with his dad and stepmother and they argue with him constantly. 30