Hospital overcomes bumps to succeed on world stage

It has had it’s fair share of controversy but the Queensland Children’s Hospital has now received an international accolade as one of the world’s top paediatric hospitals.

It has had it’s fair share of controversy since it opened as the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in 2014 but the facility now known as the Queensland Children’s Hospital has received a worldwide accolade as a top paediatric hospital.

In the Best Specialised Hospitals 2022 list named by Newsweek, the South Brisbane hospital has been named as number 15 of 250 top paediatric hospitals in the world, placing it as the highest ranked children’s hospital in the Southern Hemisphere.

The hospital was announced as an election commitment in August 2006 by the Labour Government. The final budget for the health facility was $1.5bn but the opening was steeped in controversy with claims the opening was too rushed and Health Minister Cameron Dick commissioned a probe into failings at the hospital.

Then the Lady Cilento hit the headlines again when it was renamed the Queensland Children’s Hospital at a cost of $250,000.

The new Queensland Children's Hospital. Photo: Adam Armstrong.

The study design of the 2022 World’s Best Specialized Hospital project is based on a global industry survey, with more than 40,000 medical experts (medical doctors, healthcare professionals, hospital managers and directors) in over 20 countries invited to participate.

Health Service Chief Executive Frank Tracey said the independent global rating was welcome recognition of the world-class care delivered by QCH clinicians.

“Our doctors, nurses and allied health professionals deliver specialist care to over 1,500 children and young people every single day. Their commitment to providing the best care to every child is unwavering, no more so in the last 18 months where they also played a frontline role in responding to the impacts of COVID-19,” he said.

“Alongside this, our clinicians are leading national and international research to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for children – in prevention and early detection; in critical care and surgery; mental health and wellbeing; and paediatric health service innovation.

“The QCH continues to be an employer of choice for the best clinicians in the country and internationally, and we are proud of our track-record in delivering world-class, safe and genuinely person-centred care to children, young people and their families.”