Starship Paediatric Respiratory Services

Starship Child Health, Central Auckland

Contact Details

Respiratory Department Team Support

Respiratory Clinic, Bronchoscopy and Sleep Study Scheduler
Phone: (09) 307 4949 ext 22491
Email: PaedRespiratoryDept@adhb.govt.nz

Street Address

2 Park Road
Grafton
Auckland 1023

Postal Address

Starship Child Health
Private Bag 92 024
Auckland Mail Centre
Auckland 1142
New Zealand

Description

What is Respiratory Paediatrics?
Respiratory paediatricians have specialised knowledge and skills in the investigation, diagnosis and treatment of children’s chest and lung problems. These include children with:
  • lung damage after premature birth
  • congenital lung and airway problems
  • severe pneumonia and its complications
  • chronic scarring of the lung (bronchiectasis)
  • cystic fibrosis
  • complex immunological disorders affecting the lung
  • disorders of breathing during sleep
  • those who require long term mechanical support for their breathing.
The Starship Respiratory Department provides care for children from all over New Zealand.  We work in conjunction with a general paediatrician in a child’s home region. The department is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of nurses, physiologists, physiotherapists, dietitians, speech and language specialists and administrative staff in addition to the doctors.
 
We also work alongside the adult Lung Transplant service (at Greenlane) to assess children for paediatric lung transplantation. Lung transplant in children is doneat The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
 
Some children with a primary (main) illness affecting a different organ system (e.g. joints, immune system, heart, nervous system etc) can have additional lung problems that also require support from specialist respiratory paediatricians - working together with  the child’s primary specialist.

Staff

Respiratory Laboratory
Simon Edmons Charge Physiologist
Simone Chan Physiologist
Karen Coertze Senior Physiologist
Pius Ersando Physiologist
Benjamin Guzman Physiologist
Jemima Jansen Physiologist
Brooke Kelly Senior Physiologist
Craig Parker Physiologist
Anthony Parsons Physiologist
Anita Trudgen Physiologist
Raksha Uthaiah Physiologist
David Wood Physiologist
Simon Waller Long-term Ventilation Nurse Specialist
 
Bronchiectasis Clinic
Kathy Rose Nurse Specialist
Katelyn Allen Physiotherapist
 
Cystic Fibrosis Clinic
Claire Calvert Nurse Specialist
Rebecca Scoones Physiotherapist
Jenny Heyward Dietitian
 
Administration
Joelle McCusker Respiratory Dept Team Support and Clinical Administration Clerk

Referral Expectations

The department provides specialist respiratory paediatric care for children across New Zealand with severe, complex or rare problems. For the vast majority of children we see, this care is provided in conjunction with a local general paediatric specialist. We usually do not accept referrals from a general practitioner (GP), and require that a child has been initially assessed by a local general paediatrician. However, there are some circumstances that mean a direct referral from a GP is appropriate (e.g. if a child moves into the area with a known diagnosis of cystic fibrosis). If there is thought to be any unusual circumstances to bypass an initial general paediatrician referral the GP should write to the Respiratory Department setting out the previously established diagnosis.

Some of the reasons for referral to a respiratory paediatrician are listed below. Follow the associated links to kidshealth.org.nz for further information.


PLEASE NOTE: Frequent chest infections are very common in childhood, and usually do not mean a child has a serious underlying problem. Some symptoms are important however, e.g:
 
  • coughing most days even when the child doesn’t have a temperature or runny nose
  • regularly coughing up green or yellow sputum (phlegm or mucus)
  • wheezing even when well, or wheezing that doesn’t go away after taking Ventolin
  • exercise ability reduced by shortness of breath, when compared to others of the same age
  • increasing shortness of breath over the last few weeks or months.
If your child has any of these symptoms, or if you are worried that your child may have a problem with their lungs, you should see your GP. He or she can then refer you to a paediatric specialist who can review your child more carefully, and perhaps perform some further tests. If the general paediatrician confirms a problem, or would like a second opinion, he/she can then refer your child to a specialist respiratory paediatrician.


Once your child’s referral is accepted, an appointment time will be sent directly to you. If the date offered is not suitable for you, please contact the clinic schedulers on the phone number given on the right, and arrange a different date. If you do not attend the appointment given without notifying us you will be offered one more appointment. If you don’t attend that second appointment you will be referred back to your local paediatrician, and no further appointments will be sent.
 
For urgent conditions your child may be admitted directly to hospital rather than waiting for a clinic appointment.
If you receive an appointment you will need to go to Outpatients on Level 3 of Starship Children's Hospital where your child will be assessed by specialised doctors. This usually takes an hour or two in total including additional tests done on the day.
 
Recommendations and options regarding your child's future treatment plan will be discussed with you. You should bring with you to the appointment:
  • Any letters or reports from your doctor or another hospital
  • Any X-Rays, CT or MRI films and reports
  • All medicines your child is currently taking including herbal and natural remedies
  • Your child's pharmaceutical entitlement card.
At the clinic you will be seen by either the consultant or the registrar, who will discuss your child with the consultant at the time, or after the clinic. If your child is old enough they may need to do some lung function tests before being seen by the doctors (see Procedures and Treatments below).

Hours

Outpatient Clinics for the Paediatric Respiratory service are held on the following days and times:

  • Cystic Fibrosis clinic: Wednesday mornings.
  • Sleep clinic: Wednesday mornings, Thursday afternoons, Friday Mornings
  • Bronchiectasis clinic Tuesday mornings
  • General Respiratory clinic: Thursday afternoons or Friday mornings

Procedures / Treatments

Lung function tests
Chest X-Ray
Chest computer tomography (CT) scan
Sputum microbiology
Flexible bronchoscopy
Sleep studies

Website

starship.org.nz/patients-and-families

https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/public/respiratory/starship-paediatric-respiratory-services/