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Useful Management Information
NB: Some services children may be directed to and seen by nurse practitioners or advanced practice nurses
- The Asthma Foundation provides a support service with education and spacer devices. Call 1800 ASTHMA (1800 278462 ).
- Consider referral to an asthma educator or a community asthma nurse:
- newly diagnosed asthma
- poorly controlled asthma
- severe asthma e.g. requiring PICU
- compliance issues
- concerns regarding home management
- patients from a non-English speaking background
- Australian Asthma Handbook from the National Asthma Council
- Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy
- If you have a reason to suspect a child in Queensland is experiencing harm, or is at risk of experiencing harm, you need to contact Child Safety Services
- Please note that where appropriate and where available, the referral may be directed to an associated public allied health or nursing service. This may include Community Child Health and Child Development Service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated paediatric medical, allied health or nursing services which may either facilitate or negate the need to see a public paediatric specialist.
Minimum Referral Criteria
Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
| Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days) |
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|---|---|
| Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days) |
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| Category 3 (appointment within 365 calendar days) |
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If your patient does not meet the minimum referral criteria
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Essential Referral Information
- Current assessment of asthma control: good, partial, poor
- Current medications
- Frequency of oral steroid use in the previous 3 months
- Note if the child has been hospitalized or not, and how often
- Report presence or absence of concerning features
- Paediatric ICU admission
- History of chronic lung disease
- Extreme prematurity
Additional Referral Information
Highly desirable information – may change triage category
- Note symptom frequency over the last 3 months:
- every day
- episodes of wheeze every week but not every day
- episodes every month but not every week
- episodes less than once per month
- Height/weight/head circumference and growth charts with prior measurements if available.
- Presence or absence of sleep, feeding or exercise related symptoms.
- Copy of asthma management plan, if applicable
Desirable information- will assist at consultation
- Assessment of adherence to medication
- History of allergic/atopic disease (and family history of same)
- Other past medical history
- Immunisation history
- Developmental history
- Medication history
- Significant psychosocial risk factors (especially parents mental health, family violence, housing and financial stress, department of child safety involvement)
- Other physical examination findings inclusive of CNS, birth marks or dysmorphology
- Any relevant laboratory results or medical imaging reports, urinalysis result
- Spirometry Reports, if available in children able to perform test (children over 8)
Send Referrals To
Smart Referrals
Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals
Secure Web Transfer
Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District
Internal Referrals
Paediatric Medicine (E-Blueslips)
Fax
(07) 5687 4497
Post
Paediatric Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215
Enquiries
1300 744 284
Service Availability
Dr Susan Moloney
Medical Director Paediatric Medicine (General Paediatrics)
Facilities
Gold Coast University Hospital
If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.
Child Safety
If you have a reason to suspect a child in Queensland is experiencing harm, or is at risk of experiencing harm, contact Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Services . Please consider if mandatory reporting applies.