Paediatric Health

2025 Update

The Paediatric Project has been an award-winning, flagship initiative of By Five spanning half a decade and involving many local professionals and families, changing the lives of hundreds of children.

Thanks to Uniting Vic Tas. and Grampians Health, the Paediatric service will continue across the Wimmera Southern Mallee; a wonderful testament to the value of what has been created here in the region and its impact.

The service enables children to be referred and seen quickly in a familiar setting, surrounded by trusted individuals, which has transformed access to care in rural communities. Additionally, it has empowered local professionals to build their skills and confidence in paediatric care.

The Royal Children’s Hospital were an instrumental partner in trialling a flexible model of service delivery, which is now being supported by local agencies. This service was locally designed, is widely valued by families and professionals, and is strongly supported by evaluation data.

Thanks to this collaboration, children and families in the Wimmera Southern Mallee will continue to access the paediatric support they need—close to home and with the continuity they deserve.

‘Years on End…The Tyranny Of Distance’

In 2024, By Five launched 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.

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 was working, how it can be improved, and its early impacts. A local group of professionals continuously worked up until 2025 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.

Paediatrician Reflections 2021 - 2025

The By Five Paediatric Project was fortunate to have several passionate, dedicated Paediatricians from the RCH Melbourne as part of the team throughout the journey.

Hear from them as they share their reflections of their time working and collaborating with the professionals, families and children of the Wimmera Southern Mallee while developing this place-based model of care.

Victorian Early Years Award

In 2023 the By Five Paediatric Project was recognised with a prestigious Victorian Early Years Award 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.

  • 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”