Politicians and policy makers increasingly focus time and resources on measuring efficiency, accrediting health care processes and public reporting, all of which have a weak evidence base. In contrast, there is growing international evidence that clinical repositories and benchmarking using patient outcome data can drive improvements in health care quality and efficiency and in patient outcomes.
“Tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century” according to The Lancet in 2015. Research shows that health professionals are generally aware of the threats of climate change to health. But what is the role of the medical professional? This talk will highlight possible avenues for both individual and collective action.
Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness on the issues affecting refugees and celebrate the contributions made by refugees to Australian society.
Bone health is an important consideration in many chronic health conditions in childhood. Issues of immobility, nutrition, pubertal delay and medication usage may adversely impact bone mass accrual, leading to potentially short and/or long term skeletal fragility, with high attendant morbidity.
Research into the role of music therapy in the care of hospitalised children provides evidence for reducing anxiety and agitation, and providing pain relief that enhances quality of life for children and their families. The music therapy team at RCH has contributed to this evidence-based research in children with cancer, cardiac problems, those undergoing rehabilitation or with complex chronic conditions
Wilms tumour (WT) is the second most common abdominal tumour in children. It has an excellent prognosis with a 5-year survival close to 90%. Nevertheless, the story is not finished, as we have to understand why 10% of children continue to have a poor prognosis.
Pediatric rapid response systems were first described right at RCH Melbourne in a paper published in 2005. The medical emergency team and the activation criteria described in that paper helped launch worldwide efforts to implement rapid response systems to reduce cardiac arrest and mortality, and inspired researchers to pursue efforts to refine and further improve systems to detect deteriorating patients. Now, 11 years after the original description, significant improvements in arrests and mortality have been described worldwide, yet children still experience preventable deterioration outside the ICU at many hospitals.
It has been said that children’s rights must be at the forefront of any health care provider, public health practitioner, advocate or researcher working to make the lives of children better. In this Grand Round, Professor John Tobin will explore what it means to adopt a rights based approach when addressing children’s health needs and the implications of such an approach on service delivery, policy design, advocacy and research concerning children’s health.
Synopsis At 3am on 30th April RCH will “go-live” with a fully comprehensive Electronic Medical Record. This project has been several years in its planning and implementation phases. It is an expensive undertaking and one which has used a lot of the creative energy of many staff at RCH. The transition from our current way … Continued
Beyond the obvious bias of a passionate gastroenterologist, evolution suggests that the gastrointestinal (GI) tract may have been the master organ of the body, with its huge armamentarium of functions and the fact it contains one of the most prolific nerve networks of the body, the so-called Enteric Nervous System or ENS. This Grand Round will address key concepts around the ENS.
