The Children's Hospital at Westmead

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The Children's Hospital at Westmead
Sydney Children's Hospital Network
Westmead Childrens Hospital 1.JPG
Hospital entrance
The Children's Hospital at Westmead
Geography
LocationCnr Hawkesbury Rd & Hainsworth St, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates 33°48′06″S150°59′31″E / 33.8017°S 150.992°E / -33.8017; 150.992
Organisation
Care system Medicare (Australia)
Funding Public hospital
Type Specialist; Teaching
Affiliated university University of Sydney
Network NSW Health
Services
Emergency department Yes: Pediatric Major Trauma Centre
Beds340
Helipads
Helipad (ICAO: YXWM)
NumberLengthSurface
ftm
1aluminium
History
Opened1880
Links
Website Official website
Lists Hospitals in Australia

The Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW; formerly Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) is a children's hospital in Western Sydney. The hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children" on 4 January 1904 when King Edward VII granted use of the appellation 'Royal' and his consort, Queen Alexandra, consented to the use of her name.

Contents

The Children's Hospital at Westmead is one of three children's hospitals in New South Wales. It is currently located on Hawkesbury Road in Westmead and is affiliated with the University of Sydney.

On 1 July 2010, the Children's Hospital at Westmead became part of the newly formed The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network (Randwick and Westmead), incorporating the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. [1]

History

Foundation as the Sydney Hospital for Sick Children

RAHC Camperdown Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (Camperdown).jpg
RAHC Camperdown

The hospital was opened in 1880 as the Sydney Hospital for Sick Children. In 1878, Jessie Campbell-Browne, wife of the Member for Singleton, had gathered a group of women to discuss the merits of establishing a children's hospital in Sydney; the outcome of Campbell-Browne's overtures was the new hospital. It soon outgrew the small building in which it was housed at Glebe Point. In 1906, it moved to a much grander building, designed by Harry Kent in Camperdown, where it stayed for 89 years, where it was known as the Camperdown Children's Hospital. [2]

Relocation and renaming

In 1995, the hospital was relocated to its current location in Westmead to better serve the growing populations of Western Sydney. This relocation involved amalgamation with most of the paediatric services of nearby Westmead Hospital (apart from neonates) to form a new hospital with a new name, initially "The New Children's Hospital" and, more recently, "The Children's Hospital at Westmead".

The official name of the Children's Hospital at Westmead, the "Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children", is retained.

Services

The Children's Hospital at Westmead is one of the busiest Children's Hospitals in New South Wales seeing over 80,000 patients annually. In addition to the emergency department, outpatient clinics and inpatient departments receive patients by general practitioner and specialist referral. [3]

Adolescent health

The Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital at Westmead seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of young people aged 12–24. The key focus areas include developing information and resources; capacity building to increase workers' skills and confidence in adolescent health; supporting applied research; advocacy and policy development to increase leadership and action for adolescent health. [4]

Paediatric transgender care controversy

In February 2023, a team of doctors at Westmead led by Joseph Elkadi, Catherine Chudleigh, and Ann M. Maguire published an article in the paediatric journal Children examining the developmental pathway and clinical outcomes of 79 transgender children who presented at the hospital's gender service, the conclusions of which are contested. [5] The authors concluded that gender-affirming healthcare is, in effect, "iatrogenic" and a "non-standard risky approach". Their conclusions were widely repeated in numerous articles in conservative or right-leaning media outlets in Australia, citing "legal and safety fears" over gender-affirming healthcare. [6] [7] [8] Commenting on media discussion of the research, an ABC Australia article by Patricia Karvelas, Lesley Robinson and Carla Hildebrandt said that the research was "being weaponised by anti-trans activists and proponents of alternative forms of gender care." [6]

The conclusions reached in Elkadi et al's article presenting their Westmead study were subsequently analysed and strongly disputed by the peak body for transgender healthcare in Australia, the Australian New Zealand Professional Association for Transgender Health (AusPATH). [9] In a response letter dated 1 March 2023, AusPATH held that the Westmead study's authors displayed "significant bias" in their use of terminology and selection of supporting literature. For example, AusPATH found the Westmead article cited "discredited literature"; that it included a preponderance of marginal literature that tended to be critical of the gender-affirming approach, without any balancing consideration of the "well-described, established" body of work demonstrating benefits of the more medically-accepted treatments. AusPATH also identified what, in its view, were a range of methodological flaws and misrepresentations of data in the Westmead study. In particular, its use of the scientifically-unverified "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" (ROGD) classification for study participants compromises the validity of the Westmead research, according to AusPATH. The Westmead study's authors were also criticised for using "de-humanising" anti-trans language and for "pathologising" gender diversity in a discriminatory way in their article. [6] [9]

In July 2023, the Health Minister for New South Wales, Ryan Park, announced the government would commission a state-wide review of gender-affirming care, to be undertaken by the health policy group the Sax Institute. The review was initiated following a "string of staff resignations", which ABC News, Australia said were linked to the disputed research; the ABC characterised the research as "endorsed by the hospital hierarchy". [10]

Notable people

Notable staff and board members

Some notable individuals connected to the history of the Children's Hospital are:

Notable patient

Notable individual connected to the history of the Children's Hospital are:

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmead, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Westmead is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Westmead is located 26 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of City of Parramatta and Cumberland Council and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

    John Samuel Yu is a Chinese-born Australian paediatrics doctor who served as CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children from 1979 until 1997. He was the Australian of the Year for 1996.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmead Hospital</span> Hospital in New South Wales, Australia

    Westmead Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. Opened on 10 November 1978, the 975-bed hospital forms part of the Western Sydney Local Health District, and is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Children's Hospital</span> Hospital in Victoria, Australia

    The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great Children's hospitals globally, the hospital and its facilities are internationally recognised as a “leading centre for paediatrics”. The hospital serves the entire states of Victoria, and Tasmania, as well as southern New South Wales and parts of South Australia. Patients from countries with a Reciprocal Health Agreement with Australia may be treated at the hospital, with seldom cases of overseas children being treated at the hospital.

    Adolescent medicine, also known as adolescent and young adult medicine, is a medical subspecialty that focuses on care of patients who are in the adolescent period of development. This period begins at puberty and lasts until growth has stopped, at which time adulthood begins. Typically, patients in this age range will be in the last years of middle school up until college graduation. In developed nations, the psychosocial period of adolescence is extended both by an earlier start, as the onset of puberty begins earlier, and a later end, as patients require more years of education or training before they reach economic independence from their parents.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Children's Hospital</span> Hospital in New South Wales, Australia

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Isabel Campbell</span>

    Dame Kate Isabel Campbell, DBE, FRCOG was a noted Australian physician and paediatrician. Campbell's discovery, that blindness in premature babies was caused by high concentrations of oxygen, resulted in the alteration of the treatment of premature babies world-wide and for this she received global recognition.

    Puberty blockers are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones, such as androgens and estrogens. Puberty blockers are used to delay puberty in children with precocious puberty. They are also used to delay the development of unwanted secondary sex characteristics in transgender children, so as to allow transgender youth more time to explore their gender identity. The same drugs are also used in fertility medicine and to treat some hormone-sensitive cancers in adults.

    Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world. Gender affirming health care can include psychological, medical, physical, and social behavioral care. The purpose of gender affirming care is to help a transgender individual conform to their desired gender identity.

    Transgender rights in Australia have legal protection under federal and state/territory laws, but the requirements for gender recognition vary depending on the jurisdiction. For example, birth certificates, recognised details certificates, and driver licences are regulated by the states and territories, while Medicare and passports are matters for the Commonwealth.

    Louise Baur is an Australian paediatrician with a research interest in childhood obesity. In 2015 she was appointed professor and head of paediatrics and child health at the University of Sydney, and head of The Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School.

    Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social or economic pressure, discrimination, stigma, political beliefs, or religious beliefs.

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    Elizabeth Jane Elliott is an Australian clinician scientist. She is a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for services to paediatrics and child health, as well as an Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (AAHMS), Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW, and Fellow of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Health. She was the first female to win the James Cook Medal, awarded by the Royal Society of NSW for contributions to human welfare. She is a Distinguished Professor of paediatrics at the University of Sydney and a Consultant Paediatrician at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Westmead, and regarded as a "pioneer in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, advocacy and patient care".

    Russell Mardon Viner, FMedSci is an Australian-British paediatrician and policy researcher who is Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Education and Professor of Adolescent Health at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. He is an expert on child and adolescent health in the UK and internationally. He was a member of the UK Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) during the COVID-19 pandemic and was President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health from 2018 to 2021. He remains clinically active, seeing young people with diabetes each week at UCL Hospitals. Viner is vice-chair of the NHS England Transformation Board for Children and Young People and Chair of the Stakeholder Council for the Board. He is a non-executive director (NED) at Great Ormond St. Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, also sitting on the Trust's Finance & Investment and the Quality and Safety sub-committees.

    John Christodoulou is an Australian medical geneticist, genetic pathologist and clinical scientist. He is director of the Genetics Theme and Group Co-Leader of the Brain and Mitochondrial Research Group at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Additionally, he holds the Chair in Genomic Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne.

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine</span> Group opposing gender-affirming care

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    References

    1. "Health Services Order 2010" (PDF). NSW Government.
    2. Venables, Lisa (2014) [First published 2000]. Saving Zali . Sydney, Australia: Pan Macmillan Australia. p. 34. ISBN   978-1-74261-290-4.
    3. "Department quick list". Sydney Children's Hospitals Network. 26 June 2013.
    4. "Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital at Westmead". Sydney Children's Hospital. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
    5. Elkadi, Joseph; Chudleigh, Catherine; Maguire, Ann M.; Ambler, Geoffrey R.; Scher, Stephen; Kozlowska, Kasia (7 February 2023). "Developmental Pathway Choices of Young People Presenting to a Gender Service with Gender Distress: A Prospective Follow-Up Study". Children. 10 (2): 314. doi: 10.3390/children10020314 . PMC   9955757 . PMID   36832443.
    6. 1 2 3 Karvelas, Patricia; Robinson, Lesley; Hildebrandt, Carla (9 July 2023). "Controversial research pulls Westmead children's hospital into centre of fight over gender care". ABC News . Retrieved 9 July 2023.; Karvelas, Patricia; Robinson, Lesley; Hildebrandt, Carla (9 July 2023). "'We did all we could': Noah was desperate for gender care. He died waiting for help". ABC News.
    7. For examples in one such newspaper, The Australian , see:
    8. Telfer, M. M.; Tollit, M. A.; Pace, C. C.; Pang, K. C. (2020), Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents (PDF) (Version 1.3 ed.), Melbourne: The Royal Children's Hospital; Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH)
    9. 1 2 Telfar, Michelle (1 March 2023). "AusPATH response to: Elkadi; Chudleigh; Maguire; Ambler; Scher; Kozlowska (2023). 'Developmental Pathway Choices of Young People Presenting to a Gender Service with Gender Distress: A Prospective Follow-Up Study'. In Children, 10 (2): 314". Australia New Zealand Professional Association for Transgender Health (AusPATH). Retrieved 1 July 2023.
      • In response to: Elkadi, J., et al. (7 February 2023). "Developmental Pathway Choices of Young People Presenting to a Gender Service with Gender Distress: A Prospective Follow-Up Study". Children. 10 (2): 314. doi : 10.3390/children10020314
    10. Cornish, Ruby; Karvelas, Patricia (11 July 2023). "Review announced into delivery of gender-affirming care in NSW following Four Corners investigation". ABC News .
    11. Yu, John (2007). "Dods, Sir Lorimer Fenton (1900–1981)". In Dianne Langmore; Darryl Bennet (eds.). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 17. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN   9780522853827 . Retrieved 11 August 2012 via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
    12. 1 2 Hamilton, D. G. (1979). Hand in hand: The story of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney . Sydney: Ferguson. pp. 43–44. ISBN   978-0-909134-24-2.
    13. Dods, Lorimer (1981). "Sir Charles Percy Barlee Clubbe (1854–1932)". In Bede Nairn; Geoffrey Serle (eds.). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN   0-522-84219-4 via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
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    15. Lancaster, Paul A. L. (1996). "Sir Norman McAlister Gregg (1892–1966)". In John Ritchie; Christopher Cuneen (eds.). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN   0-522-84717-X via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
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