Kids Urgent Concern Helpline

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline provides an independent escalation system for families and carers to raise their concerns if they’re worried their child is getting worse in hospital.

It is available statewide in all Victorian public hospitals and Urgent Care Centres, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline integrates with existing local escalation systems and works collaboratively with local services. It forms the final step of escalation processes and acts as a safety net.

Who can use the Kids Urgent Concern Helpline?

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline supports all children under 18 years of age who have concerns about a medical deterioration and are:

• in a Victorian public hospital
• presenting at an emergency department
• in an Urgent Care Centre

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline does not support adults, children at home or children whose primary concerns are related to their mental health.

Why the Kids Urgent Concern Helpline is needed

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline responds to recommendations from Safer Care Victoria’s ‘See Me, Hear Me’ white paper report published in January 2023.

The report made three recommendations to improve the safety and care of children and young people accessing care in Victorian public hospitals, known as the Safer Care for Kids project.

Recommendation 3 called for the establishment of a centralised parent escalation process now named the Kids Urgent Concern Helpline.

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline was successfully piloted at ten sites in 2025. Based on the success of this pilot, was rolled out statewide in July 2026.

The Kids Urgent Concern Helpline is staffed by clinicians from the Virtual Emergency Department.

Resources

For translated fact sheets, see the Kids Urgent Concern Helpline page on the Better Health Channel website.