Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplant

The Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplantation provides the following diagnostic and therapeutic services for children:

• paediatric and adolescent gastroenterology
• paediatric hepatology including liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery
• management of children with complex nutritional needs
• diagnostic services including gastrointestinal endoscopy, wireless capsule endoscopy and therapeutic endoscopy
• pH/impedance testing
• motility testing including oesophageal and anorectal
• specialised clinics for children with inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease and home parenteral nutrition
• telehealth consultations for regional centres
• inpatient consultations at neonatal units at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the Mater Mothers’ Hospital.

Find out more about our liver transplant service.

Clinics

All clinics take place in Surgical Outpatients (3b). These clinics include general gastroenterology, inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, liver transplantation, and home parenteral nutrition.  A number of other hospital services and clinics also operate from the Surgical Outpatient Pod in 3b.

Gastroenterology Clinics (general)
Level 3 (3b), Queensland Children’s Hospital, South Brisbane 4101
Mondays  |  8.30am–12.30pm  |  1pm–5pm
Wednesdays  |  8am–12.30pm
Thursdays  |  8am–12.30pm

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplant Clinic
Level 3 (3b), Queensland Children’s Hospital, South Brisbane 4101
Tuesdays  |  1pm–5pm

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic
Level 3 (3b), Queensland Children’s Hospital, South Brisbane 4101
Thursdays  |  1pm–5pm

Telehealth services are also available.

Who can access this service?

Referrals are accepted up to a child’s 16th birthday.

Catchment area

This service is available to children living in all Queensland hospital catchments, including northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

Do I need a referral?

You will need a formal referral to access this service.

How do I get a referral?

Patients must be referred by a consultant paediatrician or paediatric specialist. Referrals from general practitioners will only be accepted in exceptional cases.

Please note: Referrals may be re-directed to a more clinically appropriate practitioner if appropriate.  For many clinical problems, prior assessment by a general paediatrician is preferred.

Other referral information

Please bring a list of your child’s current medications as well as copies of previous letters, test results and x-rays relevant to their medical condition.

Contact the Patient Call Centre to confirm or change appointments.
t: 1300 762 831

Referral instructions

Endoscopy and other procedures are performed only after a paediatric gastroenterology review unless there are exceptional circumstances. Open endoscopy services are not offered.

A referral from a medical practitioner is required to access our service. Ideally, this should be addressed to the Director of the Department by name.

A suitable referral template can be found on our Referral forms page.

Urgent referrals

Contact the on-call gastroenterologist/hepatologist via the hospital switchboard.
t: 07 3068 1111

Management and Referral Guidelines

• Chronic abdominal pain in children and adolescents
• Coeliac disease diagnosis
• Coeliac disease in children and adolescents
• Constipation in children
• Dientamoeba fragilis and blastocystis SPP
• Pale stools in neonates and infants

View all Children’s Health Queensland Management and Referral Guidelines

Useful links

Gastroenterological Society of Australia
Nutrition Australia
Organ and Tissue Authority
Transplant Australia

Our team

Director

Dr Nikhil Thapar FRCPCH, PhD, MRCP (UK), BM (Hons)

Senior Medical Officers

Dr Fariha Balouch FRACP, MBBS
Dr Frances Connor FRACP, MBBS
Dr Looi Ee FRACP, MBBS
Dr Peter Lewindon FRACP, MBBS
Dr Robert Lopez FRACP, MBBS
Dr Geoff Withers FRACP, MBBS