Apheresis Service

The Royal Children’s Hospital is home to Australia’s first dedicated apheresis service, thanks to Good Friday Appeal support.

An innovative new process, apheresis involves the filtering and removal of blood components meaning that seriously ill children can receive potentially life saving care.

Apheresis can be used to assist with the care of patients across the hospital, including those undergoing stem cell transplants, sickle cell disease and leukaemia treatment, and to assist with the management of organ rejection or dysfunction following transplantation.

Apheresis provides critically ill children access to both standard and new innovative and cutting edge treatments, offering those with previously incurable cancers and established therapy to battle the disease.

Thanks to the Good Friday Appeal, the ability to access on-demand apheresis therapies will also mean that acutely ill children, for example those at risk of strong and multi-organ failure, can receive this life-saving emergency care.

Posted May 2020

Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Program at MCRI/RCH

Research

Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed in two to three children per week at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and is currently incurable. However, thanks to the support of the Good Friday Appeal, a science and research program conducted by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the RCH is offering new hope.

Professor of Paediatric Emergency Medicine

Education and Training

Thanks to the Good Friday Appeal, The Royal Children’s Hospital will engage a Professor of Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Professor Franz Babl (pictured below), to undertake vital research to improve emergency care. The RCH’s Emergency Department is Australia’s largest paediatric Emergency Department. Not only does it help sick and injured children, but it also supports world-leading […]

Healthy Trajectories: A Child and Youth Disability Research Hub

Research

Children with disability are among the most complex patients at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). This means it is important to develop an innovative and research-based approach when it comes to the management of disability related health and social issues. Thanks to the support of the Good Friday Appeal, the RCH has been able to […]