Almost two-year-old Albie Moore was born with a cluster of birth defects, resulting in five major operations in his short life.

With up to 12 different specialist teams overseeing his care, daily commutes between Geelong and The Royal Children’s Hospital became the norm for the Moore family.

That was until Albie was moved over to the RCH’s Complex Care Hub a year ago, a new, and Australian-first, model of care that supports the most complex patients to improve the coordination of care and treatment.

Albie’s complexities include a deformed vertebra in his back, bowel and kidney deformities, cardiac issues, and issues with his breathing and limbs. He’s had more than 100 appointments and procedures at the RCH since he was born.

Albie’s mum, Emma, says her family has been able to regain more normality in family life since becoming part of the Complex Care Hub.

Clinical Nurse Consultant Anne-Marie Wills is the Moore family’s key contact at the Complex Care Hub.

“Anne-Marie is just fabulous. She keeps it all in check and knows exactly what’s going on with Albie, and she makes the management and coordination of multiple hospital appointments easier so we don’t have to be up as often.”

“I think more importantly, Anne-Marie knows Albie medically as well as anyone and just having that consistent, go-to person on the end of the phone to ask things like “I’m not really sure about this’ or “can you check with specialist x and see what they think”, it’s just an invaluable relief. I can’t describe how much of a difference this has made,” Emma says.

The patient and family-focused model also includes 24/7 access to clinical advice and support.

“If we’re worried in the middle of the night, we can call through and get advice on whether we need to present to emergency. We are in Geelong, so Complex Care will ensure our local hospital has Albie’s history before we arrive.”

“It’s hard to put into words how different our hospital experience was before Complex Care 12-months ago, to now,” Emma adds.

Albie is now exceeding expectations and hitting important milestones, which Emma gives credits to the Royal Children’s team.

“The reality is without the care at the RCH, Albie wouldn’t be with us today. He will be with them until he transitions over to adult care. But, he is on the right track and we feel so lucky that we are so close to a world-leading children’s hospital,” Emma says.

What is the Complex Care Hub?

The Complex Care Hub consists of a skilled multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals that supports the care of children and families across the state with chronic and complex medical needs. The Complex Care Hub provides a range of services with different levels of support. These services can be provided directly to the child and family or to the community support agencies involved with caring for the child at home.

The Complex Care Hub has been developed by integrating existing programs Complex Care Service (CCS), Family Choice Program (FCP) and Advice, Consultation, Expertise (ACE), into one streamlined service for complex patients and their families. The vision for this new model of care is to improve the experience for patients and families by simplifying their healthcare journey and making it more cohesive.

The idea for the Complex Care Hub was initiated by Doug Bryan in 2013 who was the Medical Director of programs that provide healthcare to children in their homes. He encouraged the RCH Chief Executive Officer, John Stanway to visit SickKids Children’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada who had already successfully implemented a similar program.

The Complex Care Hub was officially launched on August 10.

Media enquiries: Rebecca McLean, Media Manager, 0466150 947 or email rebecca.mclean@rch.org.au

Photo: L-R, Anne-Marie Wills, Doug Bryan, John Stanway, Nicki Mountford with Emma and Albie Moore at the Complex Care Hub launch.