About us
The Queensland Child and Youth Clinical Network (QCYCN) connects health professionals, services, and systems across Queensland to improve the safety and quality of health care.
We also offer clinical expertise and advice to our network, Queensland Health and other Queensland government departments and agencies to:
- help develop new models of care and clinical guidelines and frameworks
- identify statewide health care issues and trends
- improve health care service planning, research and education.
Our network has over 1000 members including:
- general practitioners
- nurses and midwives
- paediatric medical specialists
- allied health professionals
- child and family advocates and consumers
- social workers and community care providers
- government policymakers and advisors
- researchers
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives.
We also have members from non-government organisations including charities, community groups and private companies who work in the healthcare industry.
View our resources, read our supporting statewide child and youth clinical service improvement guide or watch our introductory video to learn more about our work.
This is Ruby. Over the course of her childhood, Ruby and her family might meet many different clinicians working in health services anywhere in Queensland.
Luckily for Ruby, the Queensland Child and Youth Clinical Network links clinicians and their teams from north to south and east to west. So no matter where a child lives in this vast state, there are health professionals working together, to make sure children receive innovative seamless and evidence-based health care both near to home or far away.
Network membership includes health professionals and others; from nursing, allied health, medical, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and research and consumer streams. We actively partner with and encourage membership from other government agencies such as education and communities, primary health networks, private practitioners and non-government organisations.
The network puts children and their families at the center of everything we do. Clinicians working together to help Ruby, her friends and her family have the best possible start to life.
If you're a clinician helping Queensland kids, the network can help you find and share practical information to enhance your role. The network can also hook you into a wide range of clinicians and researchers who are keen to share their work with you.
For more information and to join the network search Queensland Child and Youth Clinical network or visit our website.
Our vision
To champion the health and wellbeing of Queensland infants, children, young people and their families and carers.
Our mission
- Elevate the infant, child and young person health agenda
- Collaborate and link cross sectors to influence service systems
- Identify and harness statewide clinical expertise through development of research and promoting clinical excellence and models of care
- Provide support and leadership to empower health and other professionals working with infants, children and young people
Our strategic priorities
- Advocating child and family centred practice, innovative models of care and a holistic approach to health care
- Connecting hospital and health services, health systems, policymakers, external health providers and other organisations which impact health and wellbeing
- Empowering clinicians through leadership, mentoring and support
- Influencing systems and policy to encompass the infant, child, and young person health agenda
- Translating evidence into clinical practice.
Our leadership
- Dr Clare Thomas, Co-chair
- Dr Rachael Beswick, Co-chair
The QCYCN is led by our Co-chairs and the Clinician Collaborative. The collaborative is a multidisciplinary group of senior clinicians from across Queensland who are leaders in their field or specialty. They provide strategic direction and specialist clinical advice. Read our clinician collaborative terms of reference or our organisational structure to learn more about how we work.
Become a member
Join us and help improve health care for children and young people. Membership is free for:
- health professionals and clinicians
- consumer and family advocates
- researchers
- non-government and private organisations that work with children and young people.
As a member, you'll have opportunities to get involved in our working groups to share your expertise and experience with our network. You'll also receive our monthly newsletter and have access to our annual forum.
Fill in our online form to join. We will email you to confirm your membership.
Subnetworks and Working Groups
We have 8 subnetworks and working groups that provide research, advocacy and help develop new models of care in different clinical areas.
To view our terms of reference or for more information about any of our subnetworks, please email qldchildandyouthnetwork@health.qld.gov.au.
Child Health Subnetwork
The Child Health Subnetwork (CHSN) platform is for clinicians to share learnings and best practice care to guide child health improvements in community settings.
Key publications
- Child and youth health practice manual
- Child Health Nursing Position Statement
- Queensland universal child health framework implementation guide
- Queensland Health developmental screening – Parental Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ3) implementation guide
- Assessing infant and child nutrition, growth and development within the primary health care setting guideline
If you're referring a patient to the nurse navigator or connected care program read our referral guide part 1 and part 2 for help.
Child Development Subnetwork
The Child Development Subnetwork (CDSN) platform is for clinicians to share learnings and best practice care to guide improvements in child development in community settings.
Key publications
- Efficiencies in child development guide part 1 and part 2
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) position statement
- The role of virtual care in paediatric healthcare position statement
- Core business statement – Specialist child development services
- Report – Providing a contemporary child development service to children and families living in rural and remote communities across North Queensland
You can also read our Role of trauma in child development diagnostics position statement or watch our Using a trauma lens in child development video.
Child Development Trauma Hub
We have a collaboration channel to help support clinicians provide trauma informed care to children and families.
If you work for Queensland Health, you can join the Child Development Trauma Hub using your Queensland Health email. If you work outside Queensland Health, you can make a request to join by filling in our online form.
Books
- Blue Book – 2 Act Now for Kids 2morrow 2021-2030: Child development in Queensland Hospital and Health Services
- Gold Book – Child Development Clinical Capabilities Framework
- Green Book – Understanding the development and participation of children with significant health needs
- Teal Book – Culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families: implications for paediatric and child development services in Queensland
- Purple Book – Childhood maltreatment: contemporary understandings and implications for children’s neurodevelopmental health services in Queensland
- Pink Book – Supporting the long-term developmental needs of children with congenital heart disease and their families
- Orange Book – Children starting school in rural and remote Queensland – parent resource
Adolescent and Young Adult Subnetwork
We work with clinicians and youth representatives to increase awareness of adolescent and young adult (AYA) health care needs. Our goal is to improve care and support services for young people between 12 and 25. We also provide expert advice to government on statewide AYA care priorities.
AYA Innovation Hub
We have a collaboration channel for adolescent and young adult health and mental health professionals to access and share AYA information and resources.
If you work for Queensland Health, you can join the AYA Innovation Hub using your Queensland Health email. If you work outside Queensland Health, you can make a request to join by filling in our online form.
Key publications
- Optimising Adolescent and Young Adult care in Queensland: Statewide strategy 2022–2027
- Providing Safe and Quality Care to Young People: A practice guide to AYA Care
- Foundations of Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Health Care course QUTeX
- Position statement – adolescent and young adult (AYA) care
- Position statement - adolescent young adult transition of care
You can also watch our innovation showcase, AYA health care explained and Quality AYA care – consumer perspectives videos on the Clinical Excellence Queensland Vimeo channel.
Digital Child Health Subnetwork
The Digital Child Health Subnetwork (DCHS) is a network for child health clinicians to collaborate on improving digital technology and child health care.
School Based Youth Health Nurse Subnetwork
The School Based Youth Health Sub Network (SBYHSN) is a platform that connects school based nurses across Queensland. SBYHSN helps nurses share ideas to help improve health issues, awareness and wellbeing for young people in state secondary schools. Read our subnetwork fact sheet to learn more.
Queensland Paediatric Palliative Care, Haematology and Oncology Subnetwork
The Queensland Paediatric Palliative Care, Haematology, and Oncology Subnetwork (QPPHON) oversees, supports, and improves health services for children in Queensland and northern New South Wales. QPPHON's main goal is to make sure that children in palliative care or who have cancer or blood disorders get the best care possible. QPPHON also helps rural and remote health care services outside Brisbane so children can get quality health care closer to home.
Paediatric Palliative Care Working Group
Providing the best care for children and young people with life limiting conditions involves many teams and caregivers working together. The Paediatric Palliative Care Working Group (PPCWG) helps connect health professionals and palliative care experts across Queensland. PPCWG’s work helps make sure children and young people with life limiting conditions get quality, evidenced based and family centred care.
Read the care plan for the dying child resources on the Clinical Excellence Queensland website for more information.
Family centred care work
You can use our resources to promote family centred care in any health setting.
Key publications
- Close observation services – Children’s guide to applying the readiness assessment
- Child and family centred care evidence based principles for the care of critically unwell children
Resources
Posters for health professionals to use to promote the principles of family-centred care.
- Family centred care posters
- Family centred care posters culturally adapted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Read our supporting document to learn more about how the posters were developed and adapted.
Low benefit care
Key publications
Resources
Our partners
We work with a range of paediatric health care groups and organisations including:
- Queensland Paediatric Quality Council (QPQC)
- Queensland Paediatric Critical Care Pathway (QPCCP)
- Emergency Care of Children Working Group
- The Paediatric Improvement Collaborative
- Queensland Youth Cancer Service
- Statewide Child Protection Clinical Partnership (SCPCP)
- Health and Wellbeing Queensland
- The Queensland Paediatric Epilepsy Network.
Annual forum
We host a yearly forum for members and non-members. The forum brings infant, child and youth health care professionals together to:
- discuss and advocate for health services and systems across the state
- improve the safety and quality of health care for infants, children and youth
- showcase successful initiatives that have made life changing differences for infants, children and youth in Queensland.
Forum presentations
Watch video presentations from our previous forums on the Clinical Excellence Queensland Vimeo channel.
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- Forum welcome and introduction
- Keynote: Professor James Scott: The Australian Child Maltreatment Study
- Looking Towards the Future
- The benefits of early identification across the care continuum
- The Middle Years Consumer Panel
- Quality AYA Care – Why Health Services are an Important Future Investment
- Invest and Thrive – Progressing the Queensland Child and Youth Agenda and Closing
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- Forum introduction
- Elizabeth Murphy – Brighter Beginnings
- First 2000 Days in Queensland: The Opportunity of a Lifetime
- Facilitated consumer interviews
- Early years initiative in Queensland
- Intergenerational influences on early childhood health and development part 1 and part 2
- Pre-zero to five – Initiatives to thrive
- Questions, awards and forum closing summary
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- Forum introduction
- Optimising care for adolescents and young adults (AYA) – Invest now because we are the future
- Facilitated adolescent and young adult consumer panel
- Gold Coast adolescent and young adult service
- Putting neuroscience to work to give all children and young people a chance to thrive
- The CHQ emergency department integrated care coordinator pilot
- Achieving health equity (CHQ) and model of care: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health workers, child and youth
- Achieving health equity Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander engagement
- Paediatric IV fluid prescription review project
- Children and youth strategy: West Moreton HHS
- Improving access to hearing services for Queensland children
- Forum closing summary
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- Forum introduction
- National children’s digital health collaborative
- Connecting for better care: Service models and facilitated panel
- Facilitated consumer panel
- Trauma informed care is everyone’s business – Brisbane Youth Service
- Jabba Jabba child health immunisation program
- Parent focused meal support intervention—A revised model of care of inpatient management of young people with eating disorders
- SWIFTKids – Improving the safety of transferring children between health facilities
Contact us
- Phone: 07 3069 7117
- Email: qldchildandyouthnetwork@health.qld.gov.au