Gastroenterology

Who we are 

We provide comprehensive specialist services for children and adolescents under the age of 16, with gastrointestinal, liver, and complex nutritional problems. Both inpatient and outpatient services at PCH are delivered by a highly qualified multidisciplinary team.

Conditions we manage

• inflammatory bowel disease – diagnosis and management
• coeliac disease – diagnosis and shared care management with paediatricians
• short gut syndrome
• chronic diarrhoea and malabsorption syndromes
• oesophageal disorders
• acute and chronic liver diseases – including care of children pre and post liver transplant. At present there is no children’s liver transplant program in WA. The Children’s Hospital at Westmead is the national paediatric liver transplant centre and WA children requiring liver transplantation receive their transplant at that centre
• any other complex gastrointestinal and nutritional problems.

Services we provide

• inpatient care of children admitted to PCH, under the care of the Paediatric Gastroenterology Service
• inpatient consultations requested by other disciplines
• outpatient clinics – gastroenterology, liver, cystic fibrosis, and inflammatory bowel disease
• parenteral nutrition services for inpatients and home parenteral nutritional service
• various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures

Referrals

The Gastroenterology Unit routinely accepts tertiary referrals provided by paediatricians. GP referrals may be accepted when there is adequate detail in the referral suggesting a significant gastroenterological disorder, requiring tertiary level gastroenterology input. Other referrals will be forwarded to general paediatric service.

All Specialist Rooms, GPs and WACHS referrers are being advised to direct all non-urgent referrals for PCH outpatient services to the Central Referral Service.  

Online

https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Central-Referral-Service-guide-for-referrers 

• New referrals will be assessed against the eligibility guidelines and prioritised according to medical need.
• Referrals from Nurse Practitioners, other non-medical referrers and private hospitals (including those with a private-public partnership) are to be directed to PCH Referral Office.
• All urgent referrals are to be sent to the PCH Referral Office.
• Urgent referrals must always be discussed with the PCH Consultant / Registrar on call before the referral is sent.
• The referral needs to include the name of the Consultant/ Registrar the referrer spoke to.
• Each referral is to be faxed individually.

PCH switchboard

pch.referrals@health.wa.gov.au

The Gastroenterology Unit provides a 24 hour on-call gastroenterology consultant service to discuss urgent clinical issues.