Paediatric Health

‘Years on End…The Tyranny Of Distance’

By Five are thrilled to launch a short documentary on their flagship, award-winning, ‘born and bred’ paediatric project. This place-based initiative is testament to what is possible when local people are empowered to come together to solve local problems, for children and the future of our communities.

About

The By Five Paediatric Project partners with the Royal Children’s Hospital to work with local professionals and families to improve the health and wellbeing of children in the region via intertwining core supports including:

Knowledge Sharing and Learning is core to this work and occurs throughout every facet of what we do. Our paediatricians gain as much knowledge from local professionals and families as they give in return, in a true collaboration of care.

Building Local Paediatric Capability involves the sharing of expertise among local professionals through case-based sessions and the cultivation of alliances and professional relationships. Local professionals can also seek guidance from the paediatrician on specific concerns.

Co-consultations provide families with prompt access to paediatric care through locally-led and facilitated supported telehealth. They enable local professionals to address the specific health and developmental concerns of individual children with the guidance of a paediatrician.

Outcomes

The initial trial was designed to increase access to behavioural and development Paediatricians, with local families and professionals reporting long wait times impacting children. A local group of professionals have worked to co-design, refine and implement the service which has seen enormous impacts for local professionals, families and children including:

  • Timely access to paediatricians for WSM children.

  • An increase in the confidence and capacity of local professionals.

  • Increased integration and awareness of services across the WSM in caring for children.

  • Greater trust in local professionals from families, and increased job satisfaction from local professionals empowered to support families and children.

Community Stories

Hear from local GP, Dr Kate Graham, local Maternal Child Health Nurse, Mel Wade, and local Educator, Carly Nevill, on their experiences with the Paediatric Initiative;

Community Story Melanie Wade
Community Story Dr Kate Graham
Community Story Carly Nevill

What’s New?

The By Five Paediatric Program has been recognised with a prestigious Victorian Early Years Award 2023 for ‘Promoting Children’s Health and Wellbeing’., in partnership with the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

This place-based initiative was designed from the ground up, and this award belongs to the people of the Wimmera and goes out to our local children, families, professionals and communities.

For Professionals

Local health, education and social care professionals working with children can book in a one-on-one discussion with a paediatrician for advice, mentoring and/or support.

Meet the Paediatricians

  • CONSULTANT PAEDIATRICIAN

    Nadia is a developmental paediatrician and has been with By Five since 2023. She always wanted to work with children and when she started medical training, paediatrics was the only rotation she enjoyed. She really loved learning how babies and toddlers developed not just with their moving but their temperament, personality and excitement for all the little joys in life. The other part she really enjoyed was getting to know the families who came to hospital for appointments with their children and growing together over time, which is why the By Five job has been such a wonderful opportunity to not only get to know children but their families and the community around them.

  • FELLOW PAEDIATRICIAN

    Kate became a doctor to be a Paediatrician, and has always had a love of working with children and families. 

    Completing most of her medical training and early time as a junior doctor in regional Victoria, Kate is passionate about equitable access to health care for children in rural and regional settings. Joining the By Five team in 2023 has allowed Kate to combine these two passions and she has loved every minute of working with the local Wimmera community. 

    Outside of work, Kate is a mum of 2 young children and a cheeky dog, and enjoys spending as much time outdoors in the sunshine with them as possible.

Evaluation

The Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) was commissioned to evaluate the Paediatric Project from 2021 - 2023. The evaluation looked at how well the model of care is working, how it can be improved, and its early impacts.

  • Testimonial, Local MCH Nurse

    “I have been working with a little girl that we noted at 3.5 years of age that something was not quite right. We want her in 4-year-old kinder next year, and within a couple of weeks, she had an appointment with the By Five Paediatrician and she is now on the NDIS and enrolled in 4-year-old kinder. If we had to wait, we just wouldn’t have had the same results.”

  • Testimonials, Local Parents

    “… being able to have the Maternal Health nurse there for the appointment… I really liked that because she could explain things if I didn’t understand what was going on and she took notes for me, and it just helped having her in on the plan for moving forward as well…. she helped if there was anything that I had forgotten to mention, that I had spoken to her about in the past, she brought that up and also, she had some questions that she asked in regard to my daughter that I might not have thought about so just another brain there I guess to make sure that we covered everything, and everything was well understood.”

    “Just the fact that [my local professional] knew [my child’s] background and history from the start from when she was born, it was good having her there because she knew everything that had gone on and could help me explain that to [the paediatrician] and offer suggestions of what we wanted to get out of the consult as well.”

  • Testimonial, Local MCH Nurse

    “They really like that they can bring their partner or significant others to the consultation. Or the grandparents. Last week we had a mother with unsettled twins, and she brought the two grandmothers to the co-consultation. They were able to provide their input and the paediatrician was able to ask about their history, whether they had unsettled babies. Their grandmothers couldn’t believe how lucky they were and they really felt as though they were listened to. The paediatrician has the loveliest manner. Having consultations that are 40 minutes is really great too, everyone felt included.”

  • Testimonial, Local Parent

    “With children like him… when we travel to Melbourne and you put… any child that’s got ADHD into a new room you can’t get efficient answers because they’re jumping off the walls and there’s all this new stuff to touch and it can be overwhelming, so for him to be comfortable in his own environment [he gave] his best responses because he wasn’t feeling anxious or overwhelmed.”

  • Testimonial, Local Parent

    “It was a relief having the physiotherapist [attend]. It was good because I was so overwhelmed, she would jump in [with information] I hadn’t brought up or had forgotten about. It wasn’t just them talking to each other about my child, they were including us and my child was able to play and she even talked to the paediatrician on telehealth. It was comfortable and quite relaxing.”

  • Testimonials, Local Parents

    “That calmness has allowed him to regulate his emotions a little bit better because he could not regulate them at all… he’s a lot more accepted amongst his peers and within his classroom which is really great.”

    “he is happier … and his confidence is through the roof”

  • Testimonials, Local Parents

    “[I felt] immediate relief there’s not something terribly wrong with my baby.” (Parent)

    “The stress was just next level, so to have that conversation, our stress levels decreased and it’s not on our mind every waking moment.”

    “I was finding it difficult to describe [to the paediatrician] what I had done. [The MCH nurse] was able to describe much better than me, in a more clinical way”

Get in touch.