The Queensland Children’s Hospital is today celebrating 10 years of world-class care, having treated almost half a million children and young people since 29 November 2014.
More than 3.6 million episodes of care have been provided to over 472,000 patients at the South Brisbane hospital in the past decade. This has included more than 710,000 emergency department presentations, more than 414,500 inpatient admissions and more than 2.4 million outpatient appointments.
The hospital’s busy surgical teams have performed more than 49,400 emergency surgeries and almost 117,000 planned surgeries, while the specialist intensive care unit has provided over 1.8 million hours of intensive care to the state’s sickest and most critically injured kids.
In 2024, Newsweek ranked the Queensland Children’s Hospital 10th in the world in its annual list of the best specialist paediatric hospitals. This recognition, in the hospital’s 10th year of care, placed the Queensland Children’s Hospital as the highest-ranked children's hospital in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.
Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive Frank Tracey marked the 10th birthday milestone by acknowledging the contribution and shared commitment to excellence of the hospital’s 4000-strong workforce.
“Everything the Queensland Children’s Hospital has achieved in the past decade has only been possible through the dedication and hard work of our people – from our exceptional front-line clinicians, talented support staff and committed executive and Board members,” Mr Tracey said.
“Every day, I see our teams demonstrate inspiring compassion, innovation and an unwavering focus on delivering safe, high-quality healthcare and outcomes for every child in our care.”
“This individual and collective contribution is the reason the Queensland Children’s Hospital has earned national and international recognition for the care we provide, including being the only paediatric hospital in the Southern Hemisphere to be awarded Gold Certification in Person-Centred Care with Planetree International.”
Mr Tracey said staff had worked tirelessly in the past decade to establish the Queensland Children’s Hospital as the hub of a statewide network of paediatric care, to ensure every child, regardless of where they live, could access the best care as close to their home as possible.
“Through outreach clinics, telehealth appointments, professional learning networks and clinician training, the Queensland Children’s Hospital specialist teams work collaboratively with each other, patients and families and our service partners to deliver timely, safe and accessible care for every child and young person who needs it.”
Key achievements since 2014:
- First paediatric healthcare organisation in the Southern Hemisphere to gain Gold Certification in Person-Centred Care from Planetree International.
- Launched statewide Queensland Specialist Immunisation Service, providing vaccination advice and support for children with complex medical conditions.
- Established the Queensland’s Children’s Gender Service, the first public gender service for children and young people experiencing gender dysphoria.
- Launched the Queensland-first Mob ED service to create a culturally safe and welcoming environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families seeking emergency care.
- Established the first full-time Arts in Health program in Queensland to help enhance the therapeutic and healing environment in the hospital.
- First paediatric hospital in Australasia to be awarded Level 1 Major Trauma Service status by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
- Developed the Queensland Paediatric Sepsis Pathway screening tool to improve the identification and treatment of children with sepsis.
- Developed Australia’s first pathway for assessment and management of paediatric stroke.
- One of only three hospitals in Australia accredited by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to train in paediatric cardiac surgery.
“I also want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our patients and families for their partnership and trust throughout the past decade. Families are a vital part of a child’s care team and we value their support and contribution as we navigate a child’s health journey together,” Mr Tracey said.
“As we embark on the next decade of our journey, we look forward to continuing to work in close partnership with patients and their families to deliver the best possible care and outcomes.”
Watch the Celebrating 10 years of care at Queensland Children’s Hospital video
Fast facts
Between 2014 and 2024, the Queensland Children’s Hospital has:
- cared for more than 472,000 patients
- provided more than 710,000 emergency department presentations
- provided more than 2.4 million outpatient appointments
- provided more than 414,500 inpatient admissions
- provided more than 735,000 days of inpatient care
- provided more than 1.8 million hours of intensive care
- provided more than 32,100 days of care in patient’s homes (through Hospital In The Home)
- performed more than 49,400 emergency surgeries
- performed almost 117,000 planned surgeries
- performed more than 4,300 cardiac surgeries on almost 3,000 children
- performed 10,500 tonsillectomies and 3,800 appendectomies
- performed more than 350 cochlear implant surgeries
- performed 90 kidney transplants and 77 liver transplants
- dispensed more than 935,000 prescriptions
- served more than 2.6 million patient meals.