Heart Conditions

The Department of Paediatric Cardiology provides cardiology services for children with heart disease in South Australia, the Northern Territory and the far western regions of Victoria and NSW.

The Department has four Consultant Paediatric Cardiologists and conducts general paediatric cardiology outpatient clinics each week at WCH, as well as outreach clinics in Port Augusta, Whyalla, Mt Gambier, Alice Springs, Darwin, and Katherine. Twice monthly clinics are also conducted at Flinders Medical Centre in southern Adelaide. In addition, visiting cardiologists conduct regular pacemaker clinics, a cardiac genetics clinic, lipid clinic, and a clinic for transition to adult services.

Services provided include clinical consultation, transthoracic, transoesophageal and fetal echocardiography, 12 lead electrocardiography, ambulatory and event ECG monitoring, exercise stress testing, pacing, diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterisation, and Cardiac MRI.

How to access this service

Your child will need a current referral from a general practitioner, paediatrician or other specialist. If attending as a private patient, your child will be seen by the cardiologist named in the referral. If attending as a public patient, your child will be seen by the duty cardiologist. All referrals will be reviewed by a cardiologist and triaged according to the level of urgency.

Once the referrals have gone through the Triage process; an appropriate appointment time frame is scheduled and sent via letter.

Hours

8:30am – 4:00pm, Monday to Friday

Location

Level 6, Zone B, Clarence Reiger building

Further information

Whenever possible the department tries to perform any necessary tests on the day of your appointment. If several tests are needed the appointment can take up to three hours. Some tests will require you to return on another day. If so, the reasons for this will be explained at your appointment.

If your child has not been to the WCH previously you will need to register at the Patient Registration Office, in Paediatric Outpatients 1st Floor Rogerson Building, approximately 20 minutes before your appointment. A PMI (patient information) update form will be sent to you by the Cardiology Department for you to complete prior to your appointment. Please bring this with you on the day of your appointment. Please also bring a current referral letter, your Medicare card and health fund details (if appropriate).

Inpatients are usually nursed in Rose Ward if they are a baby, or on a 4th Floor Medical Ward for older children. Many of our patients will spend some time in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Patients admitted for elective cardiac catheterisation or other procedures requiring general anaesthesia, are usually admitted to DOSA, the Medical Day Unit or 4th Floor Medical Ward.