Children in the Top End will benefit from Paediatric Rehabilitation Specialists visiting Royal Darwin Hospital from 27 to 29 May. The specialists will be in Darwin three times a year for three days at a time.
Paediatric rehabilitation services are designed to improve the abilities of children and young people following major injury, illness, or medical procedures which affect day to day functioning.
The specialists will be available to children with a referral from a local Paediatrician or Rehabilitation Physician.
"This team of specialists is bringing first class care directly to children in the Top End," said Dr Charles Kilburn, Co-director Children and Maternal Health at Royal Darwin Hospital.
Cerebral palsy, brain injury and muscular dystrophy were among the cases treated during the previous visit from 22 to 24 April 2009. Customised programs were created to maximise children's participation in activities at home, school and the community.
The specialists' visits follow the success of similar children's services in Central Australia earlier this year. The visits are organised by DHF as part of an agreement between the South Australian Department of Health and a non-Government organisation.
Kim Clayworth of the DHF Children's Development Team said, "The previous three-day clinic was very well received by clients and parents, with 100 per cent attendance. Therapists from the Children's Development Team who attended with their clients found working collaboratively with the visiting Rehabilitation Physician and Physiotherapist to be extremely constructive, but of course it was the children who derived the greatest benefits."
Media contacts: Darrel Trueman, 0401 116 203; Cameron Jackson, 0401 116 144
Release date: Thursday 21 May 2009
