Three-year-old left waiting almost 10 months for category two surgery

A three-year-old Victorian boy has been left waiting almost 10 months for surgery which should have been done within 90 days.

Tyler Budgen needs his tonsils and adenoids removed and grommets put in. He also has autism, which worsens the impact his condition has on his life.

Press PLAY below to hear Tyler’s story

“It affects his speech, it affects his hearing, he’s in therapy but he can’t do the assessments for therapy,” his mother Ashlee Hubbard told Neil Mitchell.

Tyler was assessed by an ear, nose and throat specialist on 10 July 2022, and his surgery was deemed category 2 — which should be carried out within 90 days.

“They took one look at him and said ‘He needs to have these out’,” Ms Hubbard said. “We’ve had no correspondence from anybody so it’s just been a long waiting game.”

In a statement, the Royal Children’s Hospital said Tyler was initially seen by a private surgeon who elected to go on the public list at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and it’s “at the surgeon’s discretion to alter the prioritisation, so we urge Ms Hubbard to get in touch with Tyler’s treating clinician to discuss her concerns”.

But Ms Hubbard says she received a letter from surgery admissions at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and she doesn’t know where to go for help.

Press PLAY below to hear the update on Tyler’s predicament

Victorian vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Jill Tomlinson, says only 74 per cent of patients on elective surgery lists are currently undergoing surgery within the recommended time frame in Victoria.

Image: supplied