The information book - Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service

Your child’s team
Many people will work as a team to care for your child, and for your family.
Your child’s team will have medical, nursing, allied health, support people –
and others. The medical staff range from junior doctors known as registrars
and residents to more senior doctors training in oncology called Fellows.
The consultants are the senior doctors. They are the oncology specialists.
There may be other medical specialists involved in treating your child. Nurses
will work with you and your child on the ward, in outpatients, during all
procedures and will help coordinate the overall treatment. Allied Health covers
all the professions who work with the doctors and nurses.
Your child’s illness will affect your whole family and will involve you in
dealing with the stress associated with diagnosis and treatment. For this
reason, a social worker is available to provide you with practical and emotional
support throughout your child’s treatment. Additionally, there are other staff
including play, music and art specialists, psychologists, family therapists and
psychiatrists who can also help you deal with the emotional impact of your
child’s illness. Education Advisors will help to keep your child connected
to school.
There’s more detail about the people and what they do in Section 6, TELL ME,
What Does That Person Do?
Children’s Cancer Centres
There are Children’s Cancer Centres at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH),
and at Monash Medical Centre (MMC), the Clayton campus of Southern
Health. All children’s radiotherapy is managed at Peter MacCallum Cancer
Centre (Peter Mac).
The Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (PICS) was established in 2004 as
part of the Victorian State Government’s Caring for Children package. The
Caring for Children package focuses on ensuring all children and their families,
and in particular vulnerable children, gain access to a range of health and
community services that optimises the child’s developmental growth and family
support. PICS has worked with the Children’s Cancer Centres to establish the
Regional Outreach and Shared Care Program. This program has formalised
partnerships with regional centres across Victoria. These centres work with
PICS and the hospitals to achieve consistent treatment plans, standards of
care and the staff have equivalent training and skills in managing children’s
cancer.
Sec.1:4 Your Child
Updated March 2011