Early Childhood Service (0-8 years)Community
Useful Management Information
- The Early Childhood Service follows on from postnatal maternity care and provides a range of community health and support services for children and their parents/carers to give every child the best possible start in life.
- By providing parenting support, health promotion, early intervention and prevention services we aim to ensure that children are nurtured, safe and able to realise their full potential.
- Services are free of charge and may be offered in the home or in community child health clinics or in local early years community centres.
- Care is offered by a multidisciplinary team of child health nurses and early intervention clinicians (either social workers or psychologists) as well as our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advanced Health Worker.
- To ensure families are appropriately supported by providing culturally safe, high-quality care, our Advanced Health Worker links closely with the Gold Coast Waijungbah Jarjums Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Maternity and Child Health Programme.
Patient Resources
- 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) for confidential child health advice or breastfeeding support, ask to speak to a child health nurse
- Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline (1800 882 436) for confidential general practical advice about babies in their first year.
- Queensland Poisons Helpline (131126) for fast poisoning advice 24 hours, 7 days a week, from anywhere in Australia. Calls to the Queensland Poisons Information Centre are answered by Pharmacists specially trained in toxicology and the provision of poisons information. Centre staff can determine whether medical attention is needed and provide first aid advice, as well as offer poisoning prevention information.
Out of Scope Services
The following conditions are out of scope for this service:
- Children over the age of 8 years
- Children requiring emergency healthcare or who are acutely unwell should present to the Emergency Department or GP
Out of Catchment
Gold Coast Health is responsible for providing public health services to the people who reside within its boundaries. Special consideration is made for patients requiring tertiary services or for services that are not provided by their local hospital and health service district. If your patient lives outside the Gold Coast Health catchment area and you wish to refer them to one of our services, please indicate relevant medical or social information that will assist with the processing of your referral.
Notes
Please note that where appropriate and where available, the referral may be streamed to an associated public allied health and/or nursing service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated allied health and/or nursing, which may either facilitate or negate the need to see the public medical specialist.
- A change in patient circumstance (such as condition deteriorating or becoming pregnant) may affect the urgency categorisation and should be communicated as soon as possible.
- Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.
- If your patient consents to telehealth, please indicate in the body of the referral.
Patient Must Bring
- Medicare Card
- Current medication list
- Reading glasses
- Personal Health Record (Redbook)
- Discharge Summary if birthed at Private Hospital
Send Referrals To
Smart Referrals
Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals
Secure Web Transfer
Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District
Internal Referrals
Not Available
Fax
Post
Booking and Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215
Enquiries
Service Availability
Facilities
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.