New South Wales Immunisation Specialist Service (NSWISS)
Outpatients Department
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead
Cnr Hawkesbury Rd and Hainsworth St
Westmead NSW 2145
For parents:
The clinic operates every Friday morning between 9am and 12 noon.
For providers:
The NSWISS telephone advisory service runs Monday to Friday (9am to 5pm): call 1800 NSWISS (1800 679 477).
More information about the NSWISS is available on the website of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS).
- Complex medical conditions or impaired immunity (for example, undergoing chemotherapy).
- History of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI).
- Under-immunised child requiring a complex catch-up schedule.
- Needle-phobia where strategies for immunisation in primary care have failed.
- Parent seeking modified vaccination schedule due to concerns about immunisation.
- Complex or extensive concerns about immunisation that cannot be addressed in primary care.
- Up-to-date detailed information and scientific literature on immunisation.
- In-depth, extended consultations with immunisation specialists (Clinical Nurse Consultant and/or Paediatrician) to discuss the benefits and risks of immunisation.
- Discussion of alternative vaccination schedules (delayed or selective), according to the recommended NSW schedule.
- Advice about whether their child qualifies for a medical exemption and why or why not.
- Specialist support for children with special needs or needle-phobia.
- Vaccination under sedation (subject to medical evaluation).
- Supervised vaccination for children with complex medical conditions, for example children who are immunosuppressed, receiving chemotherapy, or have a history of anaphylaxis associated with vaccination.
- Follow-up consultations as required.
- Tailored catch-up schedule for under-immunised children.
- Online video-conferencing or telephone consultations for parents outside the Sydney metro area.
- Discuss purpose of NSWISS consultation and qualifications of the medical staff.
- Offer referral if appropriate.
- Address referral to Associate Professor Nicholas Wood, Immunisation Specialist Clinic, Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
- Send the referral either:
- by fax (02 9845 1418), or
- email (SCHN-NSWISS@health.gov.au).
- Referral letter.
- Child’s Medicare card.
- Child’s Personal Health Record (Blue Book).
Telephone advisory service Mon to Fri (9am to 5pm): 1800 NSWISS (1800 679 477).