text: The Royal Children's Hospital emergency department has been under growing demand over winter. (9NEWS)
  
  Victoria’s health minister Jill Hennessy has warned of a growing list of patients at the Royal Children’s Hospital emergency department, as parents regularly treat the hospital as a first option to treat ill children.
  
  Announcing the allocation of “significant and record investment” of funding including $1.4 million unit to combat the emergency department’s growing numbers, Ms Hennessy said it was important that with the increase of patients at the Royal Children’s Hospital, parents were well-informed of their options.
  
  “What we see in winter is a significant increase in the demand of all of our health services, here at the Royal Children’s Hospital for the month of May up to 8,000 patients were seen when ordinarily we would see around 6,200,” she said.
  
  “It’s important that we focus on providing care to the sickest of children first, and to establish a special unit to get those kids that are coming in – that perhaps don’t require admission to hospital but do still require some medical attention.”
  
  Ms Hennessy said the centre would be a go-to point for parents who in other circumstances may have to wait long periods in the emergency department.
  
  The Royal Children's Hospital has recently advised parents on social media to consult a GP or local hospital first to combat the strain on the department, with weekends among the busiest times. Around 300 children visit the hospital on Sundays.
  
  The clinical director of emergency medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Stuart Lewena, said while the problem was not extremely grave, with communication the new facility would help parents who otherwise have to wait for care.
  
  “It’s a problem for the fact that the small number of parents it affects – we’re not doing them any favours by making them wait, and the small impact on crowding is not helpful for them or the other people waiting, but to call it a big problem is overstating the fact,” Mr Lewena said.
  
  A new treatment facility will be delivered for patients with less urgent care to reduce wait times. (9NEWS)
  
  “In busy periods, it’s not uncommon for parents with children who have less urgent matters to have to wait up to four hours for care.
  
  It’s more of a problem for those parents themselves. If you come here when you don’t need to and wait four hours - through communication and giving options and helping them make decisions, you can source a better avenue of healthcare,” he said.
  
  The hospital will endeavour to create a 10-treatment space, with additional staff, to provide “fast-track care”.
  
  “It’s delivering care to children with less complex problems who can probably get in and out of hospital in a timely fashion, as long as we can get them through the door and start treating them,” Mr Lewena said.
  
  Christine Kilpatrick, CEO of the Royal Children’s Hospital, said the funding will be extremely useful for the increased demand.
  
  “This helps us for the growing need of children who are coming here,” Ms Kilpatrick said.
  
  © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016
summary: Victoria&rsquo;s health minister Jill Hennessy has warned of a growing demand of patients at the Royal Children&rsquo;s Hospital emergency department, as parents regularly treat the hospital as a first option to treat ill children.