Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick

06/09/2025

Armed with crayons, markers, and glue sticks, the children at our hospital school got crafty to help celebrate Father's Day, pouring love into every card.

A heartfelt thank you to all the dads and father figures who hold their children's hands through every challenge and triumph, offering endless love and support along the way.

Today, we celebrate you and the incredible role you play.

Happy Father's Day! 💙💌

05/09/2025

Today, staff across our hospital and The Children's Hospital at Westmead proudly donned their jerseys in support of Jersey Day - a special day dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation. 🏉💙

Jersey Day was inspired by Nathan Gremmo, who became an organ donor after a tragic accident at age 13. Nathan's family chose to honour his life by donating his organs - a gift that saved the lives of six people.

Start the conversation about organ and tissue donation with your family and friends today. To learn more and register your decision, visit donatelife.gov.au

04/09/2025

03/09/2025

OCD is often misunderstood. In this episode, Stephanie shares what it’s really like supporting her teenage son through OCD, with insight from Dr Iain Perkes, who leads the first OCD Clinical Service for young people at SCHN.

Listen to their story on MindChat. Search MindChat on your favourite podcasting app.

02/09/2025

"I was first introduced to para-athletics when I was five years old. Soon after I began using a regular wheelchair. It has brought me some of my proudest achievements, and many opportunities that I would not have without it.

I was born with spina bifida, a congenital condition affecting the lower-spinal cord. This means I'm unable to walk, and my legs grow at a slower rate. Thankfully, I only have small limits in my movement.

Since I began training in para-athletics, I always looked up to the Paralympic Games as the pinnacle of competitive achievement. Today, I train 5–6 times a week, following a well-rounded program that includes endurance work, strength training, cardio, and a balanced diet.

While I don't yet have a specialty event, I compete in a range of distances, and road events. Competing at any Paralympic Games would be incredible, but I will train my hardest to earn a spot in LA for the 2028 Paralympic Games!

Last month, I reached another personal milestone - I graduated from the children's hospital and transitioned to adult healthcare. Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick has supported me since I was born. I have always been surrounded by a team of incredible people who have allowed me to live the way that I want to.

It was sad to say goodbye, but I feel thankful for the care I have received, and grateful for the many things I have been taught to keep myself in good health as I make the transition." - Cormac, 18.

This week is Spina Bifida Awareness Week and a chance to recognise the role dedicated healthcare teams across our Network play in helping children and young people with spina bifida, like Cormac, live their most fulfilling lives.

01/09/2025

Saying no to va**ng isn’t always easy for teens, especially when it’s seen as “cool” or when it’s happening at a party with friends they don’t want to upset.

But with a few simple, ready-to-go reasons, teens can feel more confident about stepping away from va**ng while still staying social and connected.

Talk to your teen, share our videos with helpful excuses, and remind them: it’s possible to make healthy choices and keep great friends.

👉 Visit the Kids Health Hub for tips on how to start the conversation:
https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/kids-health-hub/risky-behaviours-kids-and-teens/risky-behaviour-children -the-conversation-with-your-child-2

28/08/2025

For many families, mealtimes can look very different. When a child can’t safely eat or drink on their own due to conditions like premature birth, cerebral palsy or autism, tube feeding becomes part of everyday life.

This can be daunting and often very isolating for parents.

To support these families, Dr Chris Elliot from our hospital, Nick Hopwood from UTS and parent, Anna Lerardo co-founded the SUCCEED Child Feeding Alliance.

Through this program, the team launched Australia’s first online resources for tube-feeding families, developed safe, practical training workshops for caregiver and is building communities of shared experience.

With support from Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation, SUCCEED is continuing to collaborate with families, clinicians and researchers from across the country to help reduce hospitalisation, bring the joy back to mealtime and help shape a future where every child with a feeding disorder can thrive.

27/08/2025

| “I find it incredibly rewarding to help improve efficiency within the health system, and to support the many clinical and non-clinical staff that are tirelessly working to keep kids happy and healthy. I am inspired by the almost endless potential that digital health, analytics and technology will provide to us as an organisation in the future.

I think the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools will become the norm in clinical care, and we are at this exciting stage where we get to design what that looks like for us at The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. We believe that AI will become another data point that clinicians will use in their overall clustering of key information to inform diagnosis and treatment decisions. We call this project the Learning Health System Initiative.

A typical day for me is designing our clinical analytics strategy, working with our team to build a new cloud-based data infrastructure system, co-designing new data projects of interest with clinicians, and meeting with like-minded people from hospitals around the world who are doing advanced things using data and analytics.

Our hospitals capture an enormous amount of data during a typical patient journey. We are interested in being able to use that clinical data to help clinicians understand and measure variation in care, and monitor those outcomes over time. This will hopefully lead to identifying future opportunities for important quality improvement and research initiatives across our Network.” – Dr Grace Currie, Senior Program Manager, Learning Health Unit.

26/08/2025

During the Mid North Coast floods, Bec and Jai’s 10-month-old son, Roman, became severely unwell. Roman needed urgent medical support but floodwaters had cut off access to the nearest hospital. Left isolated, Bec and Jai called .

As a family living in a regional area, Bec and Jai were no strangers to the challenges of accessing timely healthcare, especially in emergency situations and having used the service before, they knew healthdirect would connect them to the right place.

Bec and Jai were put in touch with our virtualKIDS service, a 24/7 nurse-led service offering remote clinical advice, education, and support to NSW families.

Through virtual assessment, Roman was diagnosed with gastroenteritis. The team then worked with NSW Ambulance to have anti-sickness medication administered to him at home. Had this support not been available, Roman would have needed to be airlifted to hospital.

"Receiving real time help from medical professionals provides so much reassurance. It's great to know support is available without needing to travel - especially when your child isn't feeling well," Bec said.

Over the following days, the virtualKIDS team supported Bec and Jai through video check-ins, closely monitoring Roman’s recovery and offering guidance on managing his symptoms at home - enabling Roman to get better all from the comfort of his home.

📞 If your child needs non-urgent medical assistance, call healthdirect for free on 1800 022 222, anytime of day or night. A registered nurse will help connect you to the right place so your child can get the care they need.

25/08/2025

Chronic illness affects so much more than the body. It takes a toll on a young person’s sense of self, friendships and future. In this episode of MindChat, Victoria shares her experience, with expert advice from Clinical Psychologist, Siew Koo.

Listen now on your favourite podcast platform.

20/08/2025

CONGRATULATIONS | Nurses are at the heart of our hospitals, providing kind, compassionate and expert care to every patient and family they support.

This week, the annual SCHN Nursing Awards recognised the profound impact of our nurses, celebrating those who exemplify the very best of the profession.

Congratulations to our 2025 Nursing Award winners:
⭐New to Practice Nurse of the Year - Laura Gardner
⭐Healing Heart Award (Colleague) - Veronica Ruckert
⭐Leadership Award - Ania Berent
⭐Lifetime Achievement Award - Videa Tai
⭐Team of the Year Award - Orthopaedic Ward, CHW
⭐Nurse of the Year: Sean Pay

These outstanding individuals and teams have gone above and beyond in delivering safe, high-quality, and family-centred care - leaving a lasting impact and setting a standard of excellence that will inspire for years to come.

19/08/2025

From fitness to health to simply not wanting to, there are plenty of reasons to veto the v**e but for teens, sometimes saying no can be hard.

Parents play a powerful role in helping teens make smart, informed choices. Your guidance can give them the confidence to say no.

👉 Visit the Kids Health Hub for tips on how to start the conversation:
https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/kids-health-hub/risky-behaviours-kids-and-teens/risky-behaviour-children -the-conversation-with-your-child-2