Children and their families living in regional and remote areas of Queensland will have increased access to care thanks to Children’s Health Queensland’s (CHQ) new partnership with charity, Little Wings.
Little Wings provides free flights for children with ongoing medical appointments, to the Queensland Children's Hospital (QCH) and additional psychological support for families to reduce anxiety around travel and their child's condition.
The charity’s partnership with CHQ is the first of its kind in Queensland, following a successful 12-year collaboration with the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network (SCHN) and major paediatric Health Services in New South Wales.
The partnership will allow Little Wings to expand its Medical Wings initiative for children, and work with CHQ clinicians to deliver pop-up clinics across the state.
CHQ Director of Strategy, Planning, Improvement and Innovation, Adrian Clutterbuck said: “Children’s Health Queensland is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people through world-class care, and our strong partnerships help us do that.”
"One of the big challenges to our sustainable network of care across Queensland is distance, and this partnership with Little Wings means if you're in Chinchilla or Goondiwindi, Charleville or Winton, you can expect the same kind of access to services, as families living in Brisbane."
13-month-old Koa from Chinchilla is one of the many children to already benefit from the partnership.
He was born with a tumour attached to his tailbone, which required surgery, and regular return trips to the QCH, with mum Tayla Daley.
"It was definitely up for debate whether we were going to have to move from Chinchilla to Brisbane, but now we use Little Wings every three months when Koa has appointments, and we will continue to use the service for approximately the next five years," she said.
248 clinics were conducted by Little Wings in Queensland last year, partnering with local hospitals, medical centres, health clinics and immigration centres to provide the best care to families closer to home.
The CHQ partnership with Little Wings - which provides its service free of charge – helps alleviate the financial burden of care and provide better access to care for all Queensland families, no matter where they live.
Little Wings has been operating for the past 12 months in Queensland, assisting 167 children to access care at the QCH, and providing medical care and treatment to nearly 6000 Queensland families via remote regional clinics.
The partnership also aims to alleviate pressure on Queensland hospitals, by promptly transporting children to and from their appointments and providing additional psychological support to patients and their families. The Little Wings service currently saves approximately 8,000 hospital beds each year for seriously ill children.