Cape York Paediatric Outreach Clinic - improving access to primary care in the Cape York peninsula region.

This article forms part of our 'Access' series for 2012, profiling organisations that provide primary healthcare to groups who are disadvantaged or have difficulty accessing mainstream services. The aim of this series is to describe the area of need, highlight the innovative strategies that have been developed by specific organisations to address this need, and make recommendations to help GPs improve access to disadvantaged populations in their own communities.

Pregnancy characteristics of women giving birth to children with fetal alcohol syndrome in Far North Queensland.

Background: Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has been identified as a major cause of impairment to normal physical and intellectual development among Indigenous children in Far North Queensland; however, little is known of the pregnancy characteristics of mothers of those children diagnosed with FAS or of interventions that might assist in lowering the prevalence of the syndrome.

Aim: To review the pregnancy records of women whose infants were subsequently diagnosed with FAS by the Paediatric Outreach Service (POS) of the Cairns Base Hospital, and to determine how such women might be identified prospectively in pregnancy and offered intervention to reduce alcohol consumption.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study involving all children diagnosed with FAS by the POS between 1994 and 2006; maternal pregnancy records were accessed and details obtained.

Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in remote Far North Queensland: findings of the Paediatric Outreach Service.

Aim: To describe the pattern of disease and other health problems in children living in remote Far North Queensland (FNQ).

Design, Setting And Participants: Retrospective review of the FNQ Paediatric Outreach Service's Medical Director database for the period June 2001 to February 2006. Three subpopulations were compared: children from predominantly Aboriginal communities, predominantly Torres Strait Islander communities, and other communities.

The epidemiology of acute rheumatic fever in Indigenous people in north Queensland.

Objective: To describe the epidemiology and features of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in Indigenous people in north Queensland from mid-1999 to mid-2004.

Methods: Enhanced surveillance, including regular reminder letters to relevant clinicians and computer searches of hospital discharge diagnoses, was implemented to capture cases of ARF.

Results: Over the five years, 144 episodes of ARF occurred in 133 Indigenous people in seven of the Health Service Districts in north Queensland.