Queensland Rheumatic Heart Disease Program
The Queensland Rheumatic Heart Disease Program aims to advance Queensland’s vision of ending RHD and improving the health and wellbeing for people living with ARF and RHD.
The RHD Program:
- oversees and contributes to the whole of system response for the prevention, identification, treatment and management of ARF and RHD in Queensland.
- maintains the dedicated state-wide RHD register and recall system that supports the continuation of long-term management and follow-up of patients living with ARF and RHD.
- engages with healthcare providers to support active follow up of outstanding care for high-risk groups and identify strategies to improve adherence or re-engage in care.
- provides consistent, best-practice, culturally responsive and evidence-based recommendations for the ongoing management of people living with ARF and RHD.
- supports delivery of education and ensures evidence-based resources are available to healthcare providers for improved prevention, identification, treatment and management of ARF and RHD.
- provides de-identified data for population level disease monitoring and to inform system activities.
The RHD Program works with Queensland’s Hospital and Health Services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled sector, private healthcare providers and non-government organisations with a focus on adding value to existing structures, systems, and services.
Queensland RHD Register
The RHD Register is a statewide dedicated disease register that supports the long-term management and follow-up of patients living with ARF and RHD and monitoring of the disease in Queensland.
Benefits of the Register:
- Supports health service providers with timely patient follow-up and access to centralised information.
- Assists in increasing scheduled secondary prophylaxis (benzathine benzylpenicillin G) injections and maintaining the long-term management of a patient's care.
- Supports temporary or permanent transfer of patient information to or from healthcare providers.
- Improves understanding of ARF and RHD disease burden and healthcare requirements in Queensland.
Information collected in the RHD Register
- Patient and primary healthcare provider information.
- ARF occurrences, RHD diagnosis, disease status and management plans.
- Dates of specialist reviews, echocardiograms, and secondary prophylaxis injections.
- Pregnancy and surgery details relating to RHD.
Information on the RHD Register is used to
- Send reminders to healthcare providers for patients that are due for treatment or review.
- Report information to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for Australian reporting (deidentified).
- Plan and evaluate healthcare services and programs (deidentified).
Access to the RHD Register and information on the RHD Register
The RHD Register is accessible to Queensland Health staff who are involved in the management of ARF and RHD patient care.
Information collected in the RHD Register is sent to The Viewer. The Viewer collates data from multiple Queensland Health systems ensuring that healthcare professionals can access up to date patient information quickly. See The Viewer webpage for more information.
Health service providers can request information on patients by contacting the RHD Register on arfrhdregister@health.qld.gov.au or 1300 135 854.
Notifying ARF and RHD in Queensland
ARF and RHD are important public health issues and are notifiable conditions in Queensland under the Public Health Regulation 2018. Notifications should be made within 48 hours of suspected or confirmed diagnosis on the notification form for ARF and RHD.
For more information on notifying ARF and RHD, refer to Communicable disease control guidance for ARF and RHD notifications or contact your local public health unit.