General Paediatrics

Who we are

General Paediatrics is one of PCH’s largest and busiest medical departments, delivering inpatient and outpatient care across many clinical areas including:

• General Medicine 
• Asthma Clinic
• Developmental Paediatrics 
• Infant Monitoring Clinic
• Koorliny Moort Aboriginal Ambulatory Care Team  
• Refugee Health Service
• Rural Paediatric Service

Some of our staff also work with The Kids Research Institute and the University of Western Australia’s School of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Services we provide

General Medicine 

Our three General Medical teams provide inpatient and outpatient services for children and adolescents with a range of health issues. We have expertise in diagnosing and treating acute medical conditions, as well as coordinating care for complex and chronic issues.

In addition to working closely with other clinical teams within PCH, we are linked with paediatric departments in other Perth hospitals so children and young people requiring general paediatric care can be managed closer to home.

Asthma Clinic

The Asthma Clinic is run by Clinical Nurse Specialists every fortnight, with medical input every six weeks. The clinic focuses on education, monitoring of inhaler technique and compliance with treatment. 

Developmental Paediatrics 

The Developmental Clinic provides formal developmental assessments for children up to six years of age, using the Griffiths III developmental assessment toolkit. 

We provide services for children with complex medical needs who are being managed by clinicians at PCH, through direct collaboration with the referring clinician and team. In general, most children will be referred on to public and private agencies outside of PCH to meet their ongoing therapy needs. Please note that our clinic is a consultation and assessment service only, with no ongoing case management. We also do not provide routine developmental screening; please see your local child health nurse for this. 

Inclusion criteria for referrals to the Developmental Clinic:

• children with developmental delay
  • Referrals from GPs or PCH clinicians for patients well known to PCH
  • children with a syndrome/genetic abnormality/congenital condition
• children at risk of developmental delay
  • post-meningitis
  • child protection cases 
  • complex failure to thrive
  • complex feeding difficulties
• patients already attending the clinic (at consultants’ discretion).

Please note that the Developmental Clinic does not see the following cases, which are more appropriately managed by other teams including the Child Development Service (CDS), which is part of CAHS Community Health:

• All referrals for autism
• GP referrals for patients not well known to PCH
• School-aged children with learning difficulties
• Children already receiving developmental follow-up, such as through Neonatal or Early Intervention clinics
• Children already on a waitlist with another child development service 
• Children with neurological injuries that are more appropriately managed by the Paediatric Rehabilitation service.

Infant Monitoring 

The Infant Monitoring Clinic provides medical supervision, support and investigation for infants less than 12 months of age who are at risk of sudden death or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). 

The clinic provides oxygen saturation monitors to families, along with related equipment, support and training. We follow up with all infants who are using these monitors to check on their care and the equipment.

Please note that our clinic does not offer ongoing case management, which is provided separately by the infant’s own paediatrician to ensure continuity of care upon their discharge from the monitoring service. Our clinic is also not involved with the monitoring of primary respiratory problems (such as chronic lung disease) or infants with recurrent seizures.

Koorliny Moort Aboriginal Ambulatory Care Team  

We are committed to improving health outcomes for all Aboriginal people living in Western Australia. 

The Koorliny Moort (Walking with Families) team helps improve the care of Aboriginal children and their families through the coordination of appointments and outpatient services, as well as providing outreach clinics and care closer to home.

Please see the Koorliny Moort page for more information.

Refugee Health

The PCH Refugee Health Service coordinates and manages the complex care needs of recently resettled refugee and asylum seeker children up to 16 years of age.

Please refer to the Refugee Health page for more information.

Rural Paediatric Service

This service provides general and developmental paediatric outreach clinics at many locations throughout Western Australia including the Indian Ocean Territories (Christmas and Cocos Islands), Pilbara, Wheatbelt and Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Referrals are managed by the local health services.

Referrals

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

For more information, visit Referrals to PCH and our pre-referral guidelines.