Yes they do deserve much better, than a single city centric specialist hospital, in a gridlocked Greater Brisbane; and, patients and their parents often required to travel thousands of kilometres, and stay in comparatively expensive hotels and motels, just to access specialist paediatric care!
What we really need, are more coal face working paediatricians, rather than a monumental edifice, that fairly screams, we know how to waste money; and or, bureaucratise city centric medicine.
We need to press on with the NBN, particularly with regard to outlying rural areas.
And put more rural practise specialists out there, with online and virtually instant specialist video conferencing facilities, at their fingertips.
We went the wrong way, when we centralised medicine, in the most decentralised state, and paid for it with a thousand fewer beds.
And, choppers flying high care patients to Brisbane, at far greater cost and risk, than simply treating them far sooner, in better resourced regional centres; and closer to their friends and families!
Rhrosty.

The above article highlights the failed reasoning of the secrecy of the New Children's hospital and the impact it will have on the lives of Queensland families..new born babies requiring urgent medical treatment seperated from their mothers at the RBWH, parents seperated from their children in major accidents, lack of emergency support in outlying areas due to the fact they have to travel through peak hour traffic to safely deliver our children to a failure of a children's hospital. Lack of beds, longer waiting times when both hospitals merge, depts downsized offering less services than what children are offered now..doctor resigning or taking positions elsewhere due to this decision. All these attest to the future failure of a pretty hospital at the cost of a fully functional world recognised childrens hospital..This was Beattie and Blighs folly, but the lies and misleading statements made by the LNP will be the death of quality care for our vulnerable children and possibly cost lives. it is heartening to see many parents and doctors still willing to stick their necks out to bring justice and truth to the families of Queensland and most of all HOPE that this decision will be reversed.

Yep, sounds just like a whine from vested interests, who do not want to have to change to a system better suited to the people they are employed to serve.

Comment by Hasbeen - Totally agree with you Hasbeen, but you have the facts wrong, the vested interests as you put it prefer that they serve the children of Queensland to have quality care and not a half baked hospital being run by a group of people that seem to have other vested interests and that, is not our children. The facts speak for themselves you only have to research the answers, When the govt can advocate the New Children's Hospital that doesnt even have room for hydrotherapy and gait lab for our vulnerable children....and that is only some of the facilities our kids will lose if the Royal Children's closes....Please don't judge until you have all the answers.

Fightingmum, Our local hospital was without any maternity services of any description for over 10 years, despite a growing population. Many women suffered when the long distances some had to drive for examinations meant they went with out.

You know, I never heard a call, from the city, for this critical service to be supplied.

None of the services you want are available to kids in Jandowae, or Atherton for example, & I have never heard an outcry from the city to supply them out bush.

I am one of those funny people who believe that all state citizens should get the same services, so I guess you won't be surprised to learn that I have not much interest in specialised services, that are only available if you live in the South East, or are very wealthy, & can afford to have one parent live in the city for months.

When I hear of the campaign by city folk to have these services supplied in the bush, at least on a visiting basis, I'll start campaigning with you.

Don't be ridiculous, Hasbeen.

It makes practical sense for a fortunate country like Australia to site the most advanced and the most comprehensive medical facilities in the major capitals.

If the Queensland government is providing Queenslanders with second best, that is a failing.

In my state of WA, the government is beginning construction on a new state of the art children's hospital, moving it from it's present site to a suburb down the road and linking it to another major health campus...excellent stuff for the children in WA.

Here's a peek:
http://www.newchildrenshospitalproject.health.wa.gov.au/TheNewHospital/facade.aspx

It would be great if all the expertise could be spread up and down states, but it's not always possible. At least governments should be moving forward in this area as is the WA government - not backwards as appears to be the case in Queensland.