Our vision

At The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), our vision is a world where all kids thrive. We believe all children and young people should have the same opportunity to realise their potential.

Our role

To deliver on our vision, we work together to put children and young people at the heart of our care, research, and learning. We do this by:

• Creating and delivering the safest, most accessible, most playful, kid-centric care in the world.
• Cultivating a workforce that reflects the community we care for and nurturing our people, so they thrive and grow.
• Promoting the importance of the health and wellbeing of every child and young person.
• Conducting world leading paediatric research that transforms kids’ health.
• Sharing specialist knowledge and skills locally and globally to advance learning.
• Being a leading sustainable health service that contributes to a better world.

Our values

The RCH values unite and help us to achieve our vision and deliver on our role. Our values guide the way we work together and engage with children and young people, their families and our community.

Curious

We are creative, playful and collaborative.

Courageous

We pursue our goals with determination, ambition and confidence. 

Inclusive

We communicate well, build connections and celebrate our successes together.

Kind

We are generous, warm and understanding. 

Strategic goals

• deliver excellence in healthcare
• realise the potential of the RCH
• support and strengthen the RCH team
• enhance community and stakeholder support
• maximise campus-led research
• provide excellent education, development and training

About us

The RCH has been providing outstanding care for Victoria's children and their families for over 150 years.

We are the major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria and our care extends to children from Tasmania, southern New South Wales and other states around Australia and overseas.

With a passionate, highly skilled and committed staff campus wide of over 6,000, we provide a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and young people. 

We are the designated state-wide major trauma centre for paediatrics in Victoria and a Nationally Funded Centre for cardiac and liver transplantation.

When it comes to training and research we partner with the very best. Our campus partners, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) and The University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics, along with the RCH Foundation, are on site with the hospital in Parkville. Together, we are committed to improving the health outcomes for children today and in the future.

The RCH actively contributes to the implementation of Victoria's Cancer Action Plan 2020–24 through membership of the Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (PICS) and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Victorian CCC). 

The RCH also leads a number of state-wide services, including:

• Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service (with Monash Health, Bendigo Health, Ballarat Health, Eastern Health, GV Health, Latrobe Regional Hospital and Barwon Health): delivering paediatric rehabilitation services to children, adolescents and their families.
• Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program (with Monash Health and Very Special Kids): providing a multidisciplinary approach to palliative care for children across Victoria.
• Victorian Forensic Paediatric Medical Service (with Monash Health and Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine): providing assessment and care for abused, assaulted and neglected children and adolescents. 
• Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program: conducting hearing screenings of newborn babies while they are in hospital. The delivery of this service involves working with diagnostic audiology and early intervention services from across Victoria, Australian Hearing, Cochlear Implant Clinic, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, The University of Melbourne School of Audiology and Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
  

The Royal Children’s Hospital is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. Click here for further information on our commitment to child safety.

About the RCH

The current Royal Children's Hospital opened in 2011 right next door to the old site in Parkville, Victoria. It has been purpose built for children and the way we care for them today and into the future.

The hospital campus brings together six levels of clinical, research and education facilities over 200,000 square metres within the 4.1 hectare site. Inspired by the quality of light, the textures and forms of its parkland setting, the RCH delivers a patient and family focused healing environment based on the latest evidence and research-based design principles.

The RCH is:

• more comfortable for sick children, their families and carers, and staff
• surrounded by parkland with great views and lots of natural light
• friendly to the environment
• family-centred including improved accommodation and facilities for parents
• a fun, child-friendly place with lots of interactive indoor and outdoor play areas
• easier for families and visitors to find their way around.

Other features include:

• more single bed rooms, newborn cots and operating theatres
• eighty per cent of all patient rooms have views of the park and the building is oriented towards the north, making good use of natural light
• a 2,000 space underground car park, not to mention 500 spaces for bikes
• additional shops, cafes and other amenities for patients, their families and staff.

Public Private Partnership (PPP)

The RCH has been delivered as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) under the State Government's Partnerships Victoria model. This partnership sees the public sector (RCH) continue to operate the hospital and provide all core clinical services, staffing, teaching, training and research, while the private sector (Children's Health Partnership) will finance, design, construct and maintain the hospital building. The Children's Health Partnership consortium comprises International Public Partnerships Limited as equity holders, Lend Lease as builder, Spotless Group as facilities manager and architects Billard Leece, Bates Smart and HKS (US).