In 2013 the LNP Newman government named QCH after Lady Phyllis Dorothy Cilento, a medical practitioner and journalist who became known for her advocacy of family planning. But in 2018 its name was changed back to QCH after staff petitioned the state government. Photo: Scott Kenneth Brodie.
Out of 250 paediatric hospitals around the world, Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH) in Brisbane’s south has earned a spot at number 10.
The peer-nominated list moved the facility up from 15th place in 2022, to be recognised on Newsweek’s Best Specialised Hospitals as the highest-ranked children’s hospital in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.
As part of the World’s Best Specialised Hospital project, a global survey was conducted of 40,000 medical doctors, healthcare professionals, hospital managers and directors. Experts were surveyed from more than 20 countries, and none of them are allowed to recommend their own employer or hospital.
Queensland’s Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services Shannon Fentiman responded to the news warmly.
“Despite the extraordinary pressures created by COVID-19 in the past four years, the commitment to delivering the best care to more than 1000 children and young people every day has not wavered,” she said.
“The Queensland Children’s Hospital offers fantastic care to Queensland families and I’m incredibly proud they have received this honour.
“The top 10 global rating is a testament to the world-class care delivered by Queensland Children’s Hospital clinicians.”
QCH opened in late 2014, following its original conception as a key recommendation of the 2006 taskforce examining the state’s paediatric cardiac services. The 12-level facility was built out of the former Royal Children’s Hospital, Mater Children’s Hospital and paediatric cardiac services at the Prince Charles Hospital. Its construction cost an estimated $1.5 billion, making it the largest investment into children’s health services in Queensland’s history.
“This latest Newsweek ranking acknowledges the Queensland Children’s Hospital has both first-class facilities and systems, and an outstanding team of clinicians and support staff who work collaboratively with each other, patients and families and service partners to deliver the best possible healthcare experience for every child and young person,” said Frank Tracey, chief executive of Children’s Health Queensland Health Service.
In 2021, QCH became the first paediatric healthcare provider in the Southern Hemisphere to earn Plantree International’s Gold Certification in person-centred care.
“Person-centred care for children, young people and their families is at the heart of what we do and is what makes the Queensland Children’s Hospital an employer of choice for the best clinicians in the country and the world.”
Earlier this year a Sunshine Coast newborn underwent gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy at the QCH. The two-month-old Layla Christensen became the first child from Queensland to have the procedure in their home state.
