Statewide referral criteria have been created for this condition and will commence from 1st December 2026. For more information, please see the Department of Health: Assessment of asthma management in children
Introduction
The following pre-referral guideline gives suggested management
before referral to The Royal Children's Hospital Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine. Please also see the Clinical practice Guideline for Acute asthma
Recommended pre-referral treatment
Asthma treatment and management:
Follow guideline based management of childhood asthma. Relevant guidelines for management of preschool , primary school, and adolescent asthma can be found on the Paediatric Improvement Collaborative Clinical Practice Guidelines. These include how to diagnose asthma in preschool children, when to commence preventer therapy, and how to escalate preventer therapy
For children with poorly controlled asthma, prior to referring or escalating therapy it is important to review the following;
- Is asthma the correct diagnosis?
- Is the patient adherent to their preventer therapy?
- Is the patient using their inhalers with the correct technique? Videos to support education and assessment of inhaler technique are available. Kids Health Info: Asthma videos
Every child with asthma should have a written Asthma Action Plan.
Prior
to referring to RCH consider other resources which may be more readily accessible
for families;
When to refer
When
to refer to the RCH Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine
-
Asthma is poorly
controlled on the highest step of the age-appropriate clinical practice
guideline
- ** If the child has had
repeated hospital presentations consider whether they are eligible for
the RCH Complex Asthma Service and
refer there (rather than Respiratory Medicine) if appropriate.
Or
- Clarity is needed
regarding whether asthma is the correct diagnosis
Wait time for appointments
Specialist Clinics wait times
Services available closer to homes
- Ballarat Hospital
- Bendigo Hospital
- Eastern Health
- Monash Children's Hospital
- Sunshine Hospital
- The Austin Hospital
- The Northern Hospital
- Werribee Hospital
Referral criteria/required information
History:
- History of allergic disease (e.g. atopic eczema/allergic rhinitis).
- Family history of allergic disease.
- History of asthma symptoms
- Symptoms- wheeze, cough, respiratory distress
- Response to asthma treatment- Ventolin, inhaled corticosteroids
- Frequency of symptoms
- Frequency of severe exacerbations needing treatment with oral steroids
Diagnostics
- No routine diagnostic tests are needed
- Indication for referral: Poor control vs. uncertainty of diagnosis
- Symptoms (including onset, duration and pattern).
- Details of any presentations to hospital/ED/acute care
- Treatment given and patient response.
- Atopic comorbidities especially anaphylaxis
How to refer
Specialist Clinics referral
Lung function referral
Please complete the above and submit via:
- Facsimile (03) 9345 5034 or
- Email screferrals@rch.org.au
- Emergencies only call ED or Respiratory on-call (03) 9345 5522
Information for families
Resources and links
Acknowledgements
The development of this guideline was coordinated by the Department of Respiratory. Guideline reviewed in July 2026.