The Shaw Centre For Paediatric Excellence

The Government of Barbados and The Centre for Global Child Health at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) launched in 2020 a partnership to positively impact the health and well-being of children in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. 

Over a span of seven years, the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health will work with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the University of the West Indies, and the Chronic Disease Research Centre to establish Barbados as a Centre for Paediatric Excellence. Programme activities will focus on elevating education, clinical care and research to maximize the positive impact on child health and development to achieve the following goals:

  1. Establishing a critical mass of health workers with expertise in paediatrics and maximizing the quality of the environments in which they work; 
  2. Leveraging a new skilled health workforce to improve the quality of paediatric care and establish a culture of continuous improvement; and 
  3. Investing in research and advocacy that informs policy and drives sustainability. 

What impact will the Centre have on pediatric care in the region:

Excellence and Innovation in Paediatric Education

  • 40 paediatric nurses trained and redeployed across the Barbados health system. Co-sponsorship of the participating students through the Ministry of Health and Wellness and program funds to ensure sustainability.
  • 4 physicians trained in targeted, high-need paediatric subspecialties.
  • 6 international observerships in quality improvement.

Improvements to Patient and Family Experience and Clinical Environment

  • Refurbishment of the QEH paediatric ward; procurement of furniture and up-to-date medical equipment.
  • Refurbishment of the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ child health polyclinics with improvements to patient and family areas and up-to-date medical equipment.

Excellence and Innovation in Paediatric Care

  • 8 high-priority clinical quality improvement initiatives.
  • The creation of a patient amenity fund to support families from the Eastern Caribbean to access care at the QEH.

Paediatric Research and Innovation

  • 3 catalyst grants.
  • 2 local post-doctoral fellowships in paediatric research;
  • Completion of national childhood obesity surveillance.

 

 

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