The Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children is a children's hospital in Sydney. The Hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children" on 4 January 1904 when King Edward VII granted use of the appellation ‘Royal’ and his consort, Queen Alexandra, consented to the use of her name. It is one of three children's hospitals in New South Wales. It is currently located on Hawkesbury Road in Westmead and is affiliated with the University of Sydney. On 1 July 2010, it became part of the newly formed The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network incorporating the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children'.
Name and relocation
The hospital was opened in 1880 as the Sydney Hospital for Sick Children by a group of concerned citizens, led by Lady Allen the wife of SirGeorge Wigram Allen, who were worried about the health of the younger members of society in New South Wales. It soon outgrew the small building in which it was housed at Glebe Point. In 1906 it moved to a much grander building, designed by Harry Kent in Camperdown, where it stayed for 89 years, where it was known as the Camperdown Children's Hospital. In 1995, the hospital was relocated to its current location in Westmead to better serve the growing populations of western Sydney. This relocation involved amalgamation with most of the paediatric services of nearby Westmead Hospital to form a new hospital with a new name; initially "The New Children's Hospital" and more recently "The Children's Hospital at Westmead". The official name of the hospital; the "Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children" is retained.
Services
The Children's Hospital at Westmead is one of the busiest Children's Hospitals in New South Wales seeing over 80,000 patients annually. See their official website for services, units and departments.
Sir Charles Clubbe, was the President of the hospital's Board of Management from 1904 until 1932, can perhaps be called the father of the Children's Hospital and is sometimes also mentioned as one of the fore-fathers of Australian orthopaedic surgery. Sir Charles Clubbe has a ward named after him.
Dr Marcel Sofer-Schreiber paediatric neurosurgeon, led the way in Australia in the treatment of hydrocephalus, using the Spitz-Holter shunt in the 1960s. He went on to train many doctors to carry out this procedure, thus saving the lives of countless babies, and leaving a lasting legacy. He published extensively on his specialty with papers on hydrocephalus, head injuries and spinal tumours. He was also the first surgeon to draw attention to the potentially deadly condition of subdural haematoma in infants.
Notable patients
Some notable individuals connected to the history of the Children's Hospital are:
Francis Chan : the youngest liver transplant patient in Australia at three months old. He underwent two transplants three days apart as the first transplant failed until the last-minute call came in time for another transplant to save his life.
Sophie Delezio :
Adolescent health
The Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital at Westmead seeks to improve the health and well-being of young people aged 12 – 24. The key focus areas include developing information and resources; capacity building to increase workers’ skills and confidence in adolescent health; supporting applied research; advocacy & policy development to increase leadership and action for adolescent health.
