Quick Facts

• 5,000+ Children present to the Emergency Department at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead each year with hand injuries.

• 2,000+ Additional outpatient appointments per year.

For most kids, hospital visits aren’t part of the plan – but accidents happen. Whether it’s a skateboarding mishap, a tumble off the monkey bars, or an accident during a netball game. Each year, more than 5,000 children present to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) with hand injuries, ranging from minor sprains to more severe breaks.

These kids and their families can expect to spend significant time in the CHW Emergency Department, waiting for X-ray results, treatment and follow up appointments. However, research shows that by engaging paediatric hand therapists to manage lower-grade hand injuries, wait times can be significantly reduced.

Expanding hand therapy services

With support from Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation, CHW’s Occupational Therapy team has expanded its paediatric hand therapy service, implementing a best-practice model of care.  The expansion has doubled the service’s capacity, creating 40 additional outpatient appointments per week.

For children with lower-grade hand injuries, working with a paediatric hand therapist can help them avoid traditional casts, meaning less time off school and a faster return to daily life.

"As a hand therapist, I am able to provide specialist care that safely treats the injury but also speeds up recovery. Having access to hand therapy promotes patient care and flexibility. This means less time off school and work for appointments, and an earlier return to sport! Our patients often receive customised splints that are more comfortable to wear and allow more function, meaning it is easier for parents to manage at home. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how this approach minimises disruption, allowing patients and families to move past the injury with greater ease and less stress.”
- Billy Cheung, Occupational Therapist, Hand Therapy, CHW (pictured)

Better outcomes for children and families

The expansion of the hand therapy services has seen multiple benefits for patients and families including:

• Reducing treatment times for patients

• Freeing up clinicians to focus on more complex cases

• Training the next generation of paediatric hand therapists, ensuring quality care continues

With sprains and breaks a normal part of growing up, the expanded paediatric hand therapy service at CHW helps ensure kids can get back to playing, learning and growing as quickly as possible.