Royal Children's Hospital

With a recent experience in which my little one was taken to the Royal Children by ambulance, only to get there at 2am and know that it could be a 4-6 hours wait. It’s heartbreaking when you hear this, as a parent you will always think that you little one is probably sicker than others. We ended up waiting 7 hours and finally got to see a doctor. Another 13 hours in the treatment bay with lots of test done, several changeovers of doctors and nurses my little one was admitted to a ward. The hospital knows what they are doing at the end of the day, patience is what parents will need to have with the staff and medical team although it is hard to tolerate at time when the waiting period may seem endless. At the end of the day, they are in one of the best care hospital in the country and you know that you’re in safe place should anything happen despite the lengthy wait.

I had to take my daughter who has been seek for the last few days to the Royal children's hospital today and was told that the waiting time was at least three hours. There were so many sick kids in the emergency room waiting to be called. There is definitely something wrong with the system and/or funding.

I couldnt be more blessed to have such a wonderful hospital facility near the heart of Melbourne CBD. Have been here on a number of occasions for my daughters treatment. Have seen a number of specialist department and utilised their immunization centre. Hands up so far, the waiting period is little to nothing when you have an appointment. You could even wonder around the centre and they will send you and SMS message when your name is called! The longest Ive probably have had to wait is no more than 10 minutes. All the doctors we have seen by far have been great with my little one. With regards to the immunization centre, its brilliant that no appointment is required. Simply need to bring your childs green record book or advise of the injection you would like and simply wait based on the number of patients, again have never had to wait very long. ...read more

The poorly designed waiting room in Emergency is inappropriate for children. The seats are bucket style & don't allow the (often) tired children to lie down so they lie on the floor. There is no activity corner for those siblings who are well & accompanying their families so they are bored & run around. As the wait, in my 3 times I have been here only, can be up to 6 hours I'm disappointed children have not been thought of, apart from the beautiful fish tank. Please change those insanely uncomfortable and impractical blue bucket seats for something that can allow an ill child to lie down.

The hospital itself is excellent. The specialists and the staff are wonderful, calm, professional and patience. We were there past midnight and the wait was too long: about 3 hours before being admitted inside to be properly examined by the doctors and nurses. Once inside, the wait for the doctor was long as well. Short staffed, very busy, waiting time was ridiculous.