The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne

The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Parkville, Melbourne is Victoria's — and one of Australia's — premier specialist paediatric hospitals, providing the full range of clinical services, tertiary and quaternary care, and comprehensive health promotion and prevention programs for children, adolescents and young adults. The hospital has a history spanning more than 150 years, tracing its origins to the establishment of Melbourne's first dedicated children's hospital.

In 2011, the RCH moved to a spectacular new purpose-built facility at Flemington Road, Parkville — widely regarded as one of the world's finest children's hospitals. The new building was designed with children at its heart, incorporating child-friendly art installations, nature-themed environments, interactive digital screens, and spaces designed to reduce anxiety and make the hospital experience as positive as possible for young patients and their families. The hospital has over 350 beds, including a large paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and neonatal intensive care capabilities.

As the major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the RCH is the principal centre for the care of children with complex, rare or life-threatening conditions, providing statewide and national referral services across virtually every paediatric subspecialty. It receives patients from across Victoria, Tasmania, southern New South Wales and other Australian states, as well as from countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The hospital is internationally recognised as a leading centre for paediatric research and education, hosting the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) — one of the largest child health research institutes in the world — within the hospital building. The RCH also has strong affiliations with the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University, supporting undergraduate and postgraduate clinical education programs for future generations of healthcare professionals.

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne offers one of the most comprehensive ranges of paediatric subspecialty services available anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Its clinical depth and breadth reflects its role as the statewide — and in many areas, national — referral centre for complex childhood conditions.

Key clinical departments include Allergy and Immunology, Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Audiology, Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology (including complex congenital heart disease surgery), Clinical Haematology and Oncology, Dentistry, Dermatology, Developmental Medicine, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology and Clinical Nutrition, General Medicine and Surgery, Genetics, Gynaecology, Infectious Diseases, Medical Imaging, Neonatal Medicine, Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics and Orthotics/Prosthetics, Otolaryngology (ENT), Palliative Care, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Psychiatry and Psychology, Respiratory Medicine, Rheumatology, Speech Pathology, and Urology.

The hospital is a national and international centre for paediatric cardiac surgery, including the correction of complex congenital heart defects in neonates and infants, circulatory support (ventricular assist devices and ECMO — extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and cardiopulmonary transplantation. Its neurosciences, oncology and rare disease programs are similarly world-renowned, attracting patients from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The Royal Children's Hospital's 2011 purpose-built facility at Parkville is one of the world's most advanced paediatric hospitals, combining world-class clinical infrastructure with an innovative, child-centred design. The hospital has over 350 inpatient beds, including a large Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) — one of Australia's largest — and a Neonatal Unit for premature and critically unwell newborns.

Surgical facilities include multiple operating theatres equipped for complex paediatric cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, oncological surgery, and minimally invasive laparoscopic and thoracoscopic procedures in infants, children and adolescents. Cardiac catheterisation laboratory facilities support both diagnostic and interventional cardiology for children with congenital and acquired heart disease.

Medical imaging capabilities include paediatric-optimised CT, MRI, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine (including PET/CT for oncology), ultrasound and interventional radiology. All imaging protocols are designed to minimise radiation exposure for children. The hospital's Emergency Department operates 24 hours a day and is one of Australia's busiest paediatric emergency services. The Murdoch Children's Research Institute occupies extensive laboratory, research and clinical trial infrastructure within the hospital building, enabling rapid translation of research findings into clinical practice.

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne is a public hospital funded by the Victorian Government and primarily serves Medicare-eligible Australian children. However, the RCH regularly receives international patients — particularly from the Asia-Pacific region — referred for highly specialised paediatric care not available in their home country. Areas of international referral include complex congenital heart disease, paediatric oncology and haematology, metabolic and genetic diseases, paediatric neurosurgery, and other rare or complex childhood conditions.

All services at the RCH are delivered in English. The hospital provides comprehensive interpreter services in a wide range of languages at no cost to the patient, recognising that many families from Melbourne's diverse multicultural communities and from overseas speak languages other than English. The interpreter service is available 24 hours a day and covers face-to-face, telephone and video interpreting in most languages.

International patients who are not covered by Medicare will be billed at the full uninsured rate for all clinical services. Families travelling to Melbourne from overseas for their child's treatment at the RCH should arrange appropriate international health insurance — such as Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) — before travelling. The RCH's social work and patient liaison teams provide support to international families, including assistance with accommodation, transport and local services during what can be an extended and stressful period away from home.

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne is accredited under the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards administered by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). Accreditation surveys are conducted by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), one of Australia's longest-established and most authoritative healthcare quality organisations. The ACHS EQuIP National program under which the RCH is accredited covers ten standards encompassing the full spectrum of hospital quality and safety.

As a globally recognised specialist children's hospital, the RCH also maintains affiliations and recognition from numerous international paediatric health organisations. The hospital's training programs for paediatric medicine, surgery, nursing and allied health are accredited by the relevant specialist medical colleges including the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) and others.

The Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) at the RCH is one of the world's largest child health research institutes and its research programs are subject to rigorous ethical review by the RCH Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and other bodies. The hospital participates in national and international clinical registries and benchmarking programs to continuously evaluate and improve clinical outcomes for children.