The Victorian Paediatric Clinical Network (VPCN) was formed in 2009 and has been through several iterations, before being closed by Safer Care Victoria at the end of 2022. In 2023 it was reformed by the paediatric sector in recognition of the significant role a clinical network has in improving the care of children across the State.
There has never been a better time for children in the Australian policy world, with portfolios like health, social services, education, disability and treasury all sounding the importance of children for the nation’s wellbeing and growth. At the same time, almost every child health and developmental metric shows stable or growing inequities –preventable inequalities due to social, geographic or economic circumstances. What would it take to change the trajectory of Australia’s children and is it even possible?
Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are intended to improve the quality of clinical care by promoting evidence- based care, reducing inappropriate variation, and producing optimal outcomes for patients. CPGs have been developed at RCH since 1996. These CPGs were focussed on practice at RCH until 2011, when many were adapted for use across Victoria.
The gestational age at birth in Australia has slowly but steadily declined over the past 30 years, mainly due to increase in planned births (caesarian sections, inductions of labor). The effects of this decline in gestational age to child health are evident at many levels – intensive care, paediatric care, community, and school.
National Child Protection Week is on September 1-7 and is an opportunity to turn our focus to the needs and rights of all children. It invites us to consider how we promote a safe and supported life for every child now and into the future with this year’s theme “Every child in every community needs a fair go”.
Moral distress is a pervasive phenomenon in healthcare and contributes to healthcare worker burnout, turnover, and withdrawal from patient care. Moral distress can arise due to morally troubling everyday ethics issues or clinical cases we carry with us.
Join us for a panel discussion to explore how integrating the voices of children and their parents can transform the work we do in mental health. We will share our projects and insights, emphasising the impact of lived experience on the supports and resources we create. We will discuss practical insights for supporting lived experience in research, knowledge translation and clinical practice and challenge current assumptions to reshape mental health resources and how they are created.
Globally, we face many common challenges. Yet how do we address these in different health contexts to ensure that the right care reaches those who need it the most, in the right way? Decentralisation, localisation, “glocalisation”…many labels been applied to approaches, and debate ensues about which approach is “right”. Yet the aim is common – best care, best outcomes, everywhere.
In 2023, Dr Mariam Tokhi and Dr Fiona Reilly launched Australia’s first Narrative Medicine course at the University of Melbourne, teaching medical students. In this Grand Round, they will share the vision they have for integrating Narrative Medicine skills into the worlds of university education as well as community and hospital medicine.
Olivia is a 14-year-old girl from rural NSW who was diagnosed with Pre B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). The treatment is long and arduous, but if treated immediately has a 90 percent survival rate. Without treatment she will die within four weeks. Olivia has other conditions including epileptic encephalopathy (DEE), a severe intellectual disability, global developmental delay, communication difficulties, drug-resistant seizures and behavioural difficulties. The cancer therapy would require Olivia to have over 50 general anaesthetics as she won’t accept treatment without being restrained.
