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(08) 9515 8000
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(08) 9515 8000 | Contact Us

REGISTERED NDIS PROVIDER · PAEDIATRIC COMPLEX CARE PERTH · CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Complex care for children in Perth, so a family can be a family again.

Nurse-led support at home for children and young people with tracheostomies, feeding tubes, ventilation, seizures, spinal and neuromuscular conditions and other complex medical needs. Overnight care so parents can sleep, trained workers for the hours at home and in the community, and a proper break when the family needs one.
Call (08) 9515 8000
Respite for parents
NDIS registered  ·  WA-owned  ·  Phone answered 24 hours  ·  Nurse-led  ·  Perth and Peel
WHAT CHANGES WHEN A CHILD HAS COMPLEX NEEDS

Parents become nurses. We give them back the other job.

When a child comes home from hospital with a tracheostomy, a PEG, a ventilator or a seizure plan, the parents are trained to do things that used to be done by a ward team, and then they do them alone, at night, indefinitely. The child’s siblings, the parents’ jobs and the marriage all absorb the cost. Children’s complex care exists so that a trained worker can take the clinical load for some of the hours, and the parents can go back to being parents.

Our service for children is the same clinical model we use for adults, adapted for a family home: a registered nurse assesses the child, writes the support plan with the parents and the treating team, trains and signs off every worker for that child’s specific tasks, and stays involved. Workers are chosen for children’s care, hold a Working with Children Check and an NDIS Worker Screening Check, and the team is kept small so the child knows who is coming.

We work alongside the child’s hospital team, community paediatric nurses, school and allied health rather than instead of them, and parents remain in charge of their child’s care at all times.

1   Overnight support at home
A worker awake through the night to manage suctioning, feeds, ventilation alarms, seizures and repositioning, so parents sleep. This is the support families with complex-needs children most often say changed their lives.
2   Day support at home and in the community
Trained support for the hours a child is at home during the day, and for outings, appointments and community activities where a worker who can manage the child’s clinical tasks makes the difference between going and staying home. We do not provide in-school support; school hours are the school’s responsibility, and we work around them.
3   Respite for parents
In-home or short-term accommodation respite with the child’s own trained workers, so a break is actually restful rather than a new set of worries. See our respite page for how it is funded.
4   Hospital to home
Our nurse meets the child, the parents and the ward team before discharge, reconciles the equipment and medication list, and a nurse is contactable for the first 72 hours at home.
CLINICAL CAPABILITY

What we support in children and young people.

Every task is taught to the worker by our nurse against the child’s own plan, and parents can watch and sign off before the first solo shift.

Airway and breathing: tracheostomy care and suctioning, non-invasive ventilation (BiPAP, CPAP) and invasive ventilation, oxygen, chest physiotherapy routines as directed by the treating team.

Feeding and nutrition: PEG, PEJ and nasogastric feeding, pump and bolus feeds, modified-texture mealtime plans, reflux and aspiration precautions.

Neurological: seizure monitoring and management including emergency midazolam, VNS magnet use, care for children with cerebral palsy, neuromuscular conditions, spinal injury and acquired brain injury.

Medications and clinical care: complex medication regimes, subcutaneous injections, diabetes management, wound and skin care, pressure care overnight.

Continence and mobility: catheter and stoma care, bowel routines, hoist and two-worker transfers, positioning and equipment such as standing frames and orthoses.

Behaviour and communication: implementation of behaviour support plans, AAC devices and eye-gaze systems, routines that keep a child calm during clinical tasks.

FUNDING AND THE NDIS

How children's complex care is funded.

Children with complex medical needs are usually NDIS participants, with a parent as their child representative. For children under nine the NDIS early childhood approach applies and the plan is built with an early childhood partner; from nine the plan is built with a local area coordinator or NDIA planner. Either way, the supports we provide sit in the plan’s Core Supports as Assistance with Daily Life, at the high-intensity rate where the child needs tracheostomy, ventilation, PEG, seizure or complex bowel care, with active overnight or sleepover support funded according to what the nights actually contain. Community nursing for our nurse’s own visits is usually funded under Improved Daily Living.

The plan should fund what the child needs, not what the family can bear. The strongest evidence for that is a clear letter from the treating team stating the support required in hours and workers, and a record of what happens overnight. We help families and support coordinators put that together, and our monthly summaries and plan-reassessment reports are written so the next plan funds what the first one proved was necessary.

Where a child’s care is shared with WA Health services, such as community paediatric nursing or a hospital-in-the-home program, we coordinate with them so the family is not the go-between. We do not replace medical care, and we will always tell a family when a child needs the hospital rather than us.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Things people ask us first.

Do you support children under the NDIS, or only adults?
Both. Our paediatric service supports children and young people from infancy to 18, and we continue with the same team as a young person moves into adult services, which avoids the cliff many families hit at 18.
Can you provide overnight care so we can sleep?
Yes. Active overnight support, with a worker awake all night managing the child’s clinical needs, is the support we are most often asked for by parents. If the plan funds a sleepover instead, we will help you gather the evidence to have that reviewed.
Are your workers cleared to work with children?
Every worker on a child’s roster holds a current Working with Children Check and NDIS Worker Screening Check, and has been trained and signed off by our nurse for that child’s specific tasks. Parents meet the workers before the first shift.
Do you provide support at school?
No. Support during school hours is arranged by the school and the education department, and we do not send workers into classrooms. We cover before and after school, evenings, overnights, weekends and school holidays, and we will share the child’s care plan with the school if the family asks us to.
Can you start while our child is still in hospital?
Yes, and it works best that way. Our nurse meets the child, the parents and the ward team before discharge so the first night at home is not the first time anyone has met your child.
Which areas do you cover for children?
The Perth metro area and Peel, from Yanchep to Mandurah. Overnight rosters are staffed from the area the family lives in, and we will tell you on the first call whether we can staff your suburb properly.
EVERYTHING ELSE WE DO

One provider, one point of contact.

Every service has its own page with what’s included, who it suits and how to start.

Ring us before the next sleepless week.

Tell us about your child, what they need at night and where you live, and we will tell you honestly whether we can help and from when. Parents, support coordinators and hospital teams all welcome.
Call (08) 9515 8000
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