Monthly Archives: November 2015

“I did it my way…” – Variation in paediatric clinical care; what, why and where to now?

Variation in care has been long recognised and is often a part of good clinical practice. However, sometimes variation in care is unwarranted and can lead to variation in quality of care and increased costs. The inaugural Australian Atlas of Variation in Healthcare will be launched later this month by the federal minister for health, Susan Ley. Harriet Hiscock will present data on variation in care for some of the paediatric conditions included in the Atlas and discuss reasons why such variation might be occurring.

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Anecdotes vs. data: can health services research lead to evidence-based ED policies?

Surprising to many in Australia, the age band with by far the greatest number of Emergency Department (ED) presentations is that of children 0-4 years of age. Other paediatric age bands are also among the highest in absolute numbers of ED presentations. Understanding the reasons why parents seek ED care for their child for lower urgency conditions, the actual availability of GP services and patterns of use of alternative emergency services can assist in the efficient organisation and delivery of health services for children in Australia.

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