Introduction of standardised emergency department paediatric asthma clinical guidelines into a general metropolitan hospital.

'Aiming for Asthma Improvement in Children' is a South East Sydney Area Health Service (SESAHS) initiative. It is funded by the Commonwealth Government, under the Chronic & Complex Care Programmes, which is linked to New South Wales (NSW) Government Action Plan. One specific objective of the programme is to implement standardised paediatric asthma guidelines across the Emergency Departments of an area tertiary and local area hospitals. This paper will focus on the process of piloting, implementing and evaluating the guidelines into one local area hospital within SESAHS. SESAHS includes Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, a major paediatric referral and tertiary teaching hospital in Sydney. The paediatric asthma clinical practice guidelines (CPG) were developed, piloted and disseminated from Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, for local implementation and adaptation. The successful introduction of these guidelines at the local hospital promoted evidence-based practice and reduced the admission rate for children with asthma.