Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is a special ward for children and young people who are seriously ill or recovering from major surgery. Our services include:

• Specialist care for seriously ill, injured, or ventilated children.
• Specialist care for children after complex surgical procedures including heart, brain, kidney and liver transplantation, intestinal and ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery.
• Specialist care for high dependency patients unsuitable for a ward due to physiological instability, or dependence on specialist technology.
• Extra-corporeal life support (ECLS) including Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) and Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD).

Who can access this service?

New patients

Referrals are accepted up to 16 years of age (prior to 16th birthday).

Existing patients with complex care needs

Referrals are accepted up to their 18th birthday (patients are usually transitioned to adult services by this time).

Catchment area

This service is available to children living in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Do I need a referral?

You will need a formal referral to access this service.

How do I get a referral?

Referrals are accepted from:

• paediatricians
• paediatric surgeons
• emergency physicians
• adult intensivists.

Information for health professionals

The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is a special ward for children and young people who are seriously ill or recovering from major surgery. Our services include:

• Life support for critically ill children including Extra Corporeal Life Support (ECLS).
• Post-operative care for children undergoing cardiac surgery.
• Intensive care for children after complex surgical procedures including cardiac, neurosurgery, renal and liver transplantation, gastrointestinal, ENT, burns and general surgery.
• Intensive care for the whole range of paediatric critical illness – including infectious diseases, neurology, oncology, gastrointestinal, metabolic disease etc.
• Monitoring and care for high dependency children unsuitable for the ward due to physiological instability or dependence on specialist technology.
• Support for regional children’s intensive care services including education, debriefing, telehealth services and review services such as clinical audit and outcome monitoring.
• Counselling and guidance is available for patients, families and carers.

Careers in Paediatric Intensive Care

The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Queensland Children’s Hospital is one of the largest units in Australia and New Zealand with 36 bed spaces and 2000 admissions annually. To find out more about career opportunities with us visit our Careers in Paediatric Intensive Care page.

Referral instructions

Referral of critically ill children is usually via Children’s Health Queensland.

Our team

Director

Dr Christian Stocker MBBS, MD, FMH (CH), FCICM

Deputy Directors

Dr Kevin Plumpton MB ChB, FRACP, FCICM

Dr Adrian Mattke MBBS, MD, FRACP, FCICM

Senior Medical Officers

Dr Thomas Boakye MB ChB, Dip Paed, FRACP, FCICM
Dr Arjun Chavan MBBS, DCh, MD, MRCPCH, CCT (UK), FCICM
Assoc. Prof Mark Coulthard MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FCICM
Dr Tavey Dorofaeff MB ChB, FRACP, FJFICM, FCICM
Dr Paul Holmes MBChB, BSc, MRCPCH, FCICM
Dr Rahul Joshi MBBS, DNB (Paed), DCH, FCICM, FRACP
Dr Paula Lister MBBCh PhD MRCP FRCPCH FFICM FCICM
Dr Kevin McCaffery MB ChB, MRCP, FCICM
Assoc. Prof Julie McEniery MBBS, FRACP, FCICM, MPH
Dr Ronan McKenna MB, ChB, FCICM
Dr Peter Prager MBBS, FRACP, FCICM
Dr Sarfaraz Rahiman MBBS, MD (Paed), DNB (Paed), MRCPCH, FCICM
Dr Sainath Raman MBBS, MRCPCH, PhD, FCICM
Dr Neeta Rampersad BMed, FRACP, FCICM
Dr Phil Sargent MBBS, BMed Sci, FRACP FCICM
Assoc. Prof Luregn Schlapbach MBBS, MD, FMH (CH), FCICM
Dr Anthony Slater BMedSc, MBBS, FRACP, FCICM
Dr Shona Mair MBBS, BSc, MPH, FRACP, FCICM
Dr Michaela Waak MD, FCICM, FRACP, FRACP
Dr Nick Pigott MBBS, FRCPI, FRCPCH, FRACP, FCICM