The COVID-19 pandemic and associated system disruptions are impacting all children and young people (CYP) in Australia. For vulnerable groups of CYP, who already experience poorer health and well-being, these impacts are amplified. Challenges include reduced access to usual services, reduced community supports, financial instability, unemployment and other life circumstances that threaten to widen pre-existing inequities. This article aims to present the reasons for vulnerability of CYP during the pandemic, and to focus on actions by health professionals that mitigate additional challenges to their health and well-being. Using a rapid review of the literature and team-based discussions, eight vulnerable groups were identified: CYP with disabilities, mental health conditions and chronic diseases; CYP facing financial hardship; within the child protection system; Aboriginal; migrant and refugee; in residential care; rural; and isolated CYP. Recommendations for action are required at the level of governments, health professionals and researchers and include enhancing access to health and social supports, prioritising vulnerable CYP in resuming health activity and elevating the voice of CYP in designing the response. The pandemic can be conceptualised as an opportunity to create a more equitable society as we document the inequities that have been exacerbated. Vulnerable groups of CYP must be recognised and heard, and targeted actions must focus on improving their health outcomes during the pandemic and beyond.

BackgroundOver a third of Australian children have long-term health conditions, often involving multiple organ systems and resulting in complex health care needs. Our healthcare system struggles to meet their needs because of sectoral fragmentation and episodic models of care. Children with medical complexity (CMC) currently rely on tertiary paediatric hospitals for most of their healthcare, but this is not sustainable. We evaluated the impacts of Care Coordination on tertiary hospital service use and family outcomes.MethodsA pre- and post-implementation cohort evaluation of the Care Coordination service at a tertiary paediatric hospital network, was undertaken. From July 2015 CMC enrolled in the service had access to a Care Coordinator, shared-care plans, linkage with local general practitioners (GPs), and access to a 24-h Hotline from August 2016. CMC were those with ≥4 emergency department (ED) presentations, hospital stays of ≥14 days, or ≥ 10 outpatient appointments in 12 months. Medically fragile infants at risk of frequent future hospital utilisation, and children with medical problems complicated by difficult family psychosocial circumstances were also included. Care Coordinators collected outcomes for each enrolled child. Administrative data on hospital encounters 6 months pre- and post-enrolment were analysed for children aged > 6 months.ResultsAn estimated 557 hospital encounters, were prevented in the 6 months after enrolment, for 534 children aged > 6 months. ED presentations decreased by 40% (Chi2 = 37.95; P < 0.0001) and day-only admissions by 42% (Chi2 = 7.54; P < 0.01). Overnight admissions decreased by 9% but this was not significant. An estimated Au$4.9 million was saved over 2 years due to prevented hospital encounters. Shared-care plans were developed for 83.5%. Of 84 children who had no regular GP, 58 (69%) were linked with one. Fifty-five (10%) of families were linked to the 24-h Hotline to enable remote access to support and advice. Over 50,000 km of family travel and 370 school absences was prevented.ConclusionsThe Care Coordination service has clear benefits for the tertiary paediatric hospital network and for families. Ongoing evaluation is essential for continuous improvement and to support adjustments to the model according to the local context.

Background: Children with medical complexity (CMC) have a wide range of long term health problems and disabilities that have an adverse impact on their quality of life. They have high levels of family identified health care needs and health care utilisation. There is no Australian literature on the experiences of health care providers working in the Australian tertiary, secondary and primary health care system, whilst managing CMC. This information is essential to inform the design of integrated health care systems for these children. We address this knowledge gap by exploring the perceptions and experiences of health care providers on the provision of health care for CMC aged 0 to 18 years. Method: A qualitative research study was undertaken. Stakeholder forums, group and individual in depth interviews were undertaken using a semi-structured interview guide. The stakeholder forums were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Field notes of the stakeholder forums, group and individual interviews were taken. Inductive thematic analysis was undertaken to identify key themes. Results: One hundred and three providers took part in the stakeholder forums and interviews across 3 local health districts, a tertiary paediatric hospital network, and primary health care organisations. Providers expressed concern regarding family capacity to negotiate the system, which was impacted by the medical complexity of the children and psychosocial complexity of their families. Lack of health care provider capacity in terms of their skills, time and availability to manage CMC was also a key problem. These issues occurred within a health system that had impaired capacity in terms of fragmentation of care and limited communication among health care providers. Conclusion: When designing integrated care models for CMC, it is essential to understand and address the challenges experienced by their health care providers. This requires adequate training of providers, additional resources and time for coordination of care, improved systems of communication among services, with timely access to key information for parents and providers.

Introduction:Children with medical complexity (CMC) require highly specialised care, often from multiple providers and over many years. This paper describes the first 18 months of development of the Kids Guided Personalised Services (GPS) Integrated Care Program (the Program). This Program aims to improve health care experience; communication and to streamline provision of care.Discussion:Key enablers across the Program were put in place and 5 individual project streams were used to implement change. An extensive formative evaluation process was undertaken to truly understand all perspectives in developing the Program.Conclusion/Key Lessons:This Program supports families who are caring for CMC by developing shared care models that bring together local health services with the tertiary hospitals. The methodology used has resulted in comprehensive system change and transformation; reduced presentations to the Emergency Department (ED), avoidable admissions and travel time. A challenge remains in meaningfully engaging primary health care providers.

IntroductionFrequent asthma attacks in children result in unscheduled hospital presentations. Patient centered care coordination can reduce asthma hospital presentations. In 2016, The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network launched the Asthma Follow up Integrated Care Initiative with the aim to reduce pediatric asthma emergency department (ED) presentations by 50% through developing and testing an integrated model of care led by care coordinators (CCs).MethodsThe integrated model of care was developed by a multidisciplinary team at Sydney Children's Hospital Randwick (SCH,R) and implemented in two phases: Phase I and Phase II. Children aged 2–16 years who presented ≥4 times to the ED of the SCH,R in the preceding 12 months were enrolled in Phase I and those who had ≥4 ED presentations and ≥1 hospital admissions with asthma attack were enrolled in Phase II. Phase I included a suite of interventions delivered by CCs including encouraging parents/carers to schedule follow-up visits with GP post-discharge, ensuring parents/carers are provided with standard asthma resource pack, offering referrals to asthma education sessions, sending a letter to the child's GP advising of the child's recent hospital presentation and coordinating asthma education webinar for GPs. In addition, in Phase II CCs sent text messages to parents/carers reminding them to follow-up with the child's GP. We compared the change in ED visits and hospital admissions at baseline (6 months pre-enrolment) and at 6-and 12-months post-enrolment in the program.ResultsDuring December 2016-January 2021, 160 children (99 in Phase I and 61 in Phase II) were enrolled. Compared to baseline at 6- and 12-months post-enrolment, the proportion of children requiring ≥1 asthma ED presentations reduced by 43 and 61% in Phase I and 41 and 66% in Phase II. Similarly, the proportion of children requiring ≥1 asthma hospital admissions at 6- and 12-months post-enrolment reduced by 40 and 47% in Phase I and 62 and 69% in Phase II.ConclusionOur results support that care coordinator led integrated model of asthma care which enables integration of acute and primary care services and provides families with asthma resources and education can reduce asthma hospital presentations in children.