Cleft and Craniofacial Anomalies Service

The multidisciplinary Cleft and Craniofacial Anomalies Service at Monash Children’s Hospital provides expert assessment and treatment for children with anomalies of the face and head.

Our service involves an array of specialists from many fields, whose interest is the assessment, diagnosis and care of children born with facial and cranial anomalies from birth through to their adult years.

We support these children with management of their appearance, speech, hearing, dentition and psychological assistance. The combined service gives parents and their children the opportunity to meet and discuss all aspects of cleft care and support with other patients and parents. Our clinic works closely with Cleftpals Victoria which provides social support for parents of children born with cleft and other facial anomalies.

The service began in 1987 when the Queen Victoria Hospital transferred to the Clayton campus of Monash Medical Centre.

The Cleft and Craniofacial Anomalies Clinic is held on Wednesday afternoons twice each month.

Cleft care is optimised because the multidisciplinary service allows patients full assessment by an expert team of health professionals who coordinate management plans and surgical interventions at one hospital visit.

The members of this experienced team include paediatric plastic surgeons undertaking both cleft surgery and craniofacial surgery, oral & maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, paediatric dentists, ear, nose and throat surgeons, speech therapists, audiologists and our dedicated cleft care coordinator.

Clinical geneticists and genetic counsellors also attend the clinic and antenatal consultations can be arranged by liaising with our cleft care coordinator.

Treatment modalities include primary cleft lip and cleft palate repair, speech pathology assessment and therapy (including surgery for speech – pharyngoplasty), hearing tests and surgical management of hearing loss, alveolar bone graft surgery, orthognathic surgery for jaw alignment, orthodontic and dental care for dental alignment, nasal reconstruction surgery (rhinoplasty) and secondary cleft lip and palate surgery.

Our dedicated cleft care coordinator receives referrals of new patients and will facilitate timely appointments to the Cleft Clinic based on urgency. She is available to contact by parents and referring practitioners for advice on cleft related issues and gives support to patients and parents both before and after any treatment interventions, including surgery.

An ongoing review of our cleft patients is recommended at regular intervals when patients reach various age milestones to ensure that their facial growth and development is optimised. Timing of treatments can be crucial and each patient’s management plan and therapy schedule is individually planned and modified depending on their needs.

For more information see our Fact Sheets – Your baby has a cleft lip and/or cleft palate.

Secure eReferral by HealthLink is now our preferred method of referral.

Find up-to-date information about how to send a referral to Monash Health Specialist Consulting Clinics on the eReferrals page on our website.

All referrals can be made via Monash Children’s Specialist Consulting. Please review the referral guidelines for our unit before completing a referral.

Phone: (03) 8572 3004

Should you require any further assistance in making a referral, please contact the Cleft Care Coordinator:

Phone: (03) 8572 3833 or 0400 822 351
Email: cleftCNC@monashhealth.org

Eligibility criteria
People with cleft lip or palate and other congenital craniofacial anomalies and those with related conditions including speech, dental and hearing difficulties associated with cleft palate or craniofacial anomalies are eligible for our services.

Cost
There is no cost to patients eligible for Medicare. Patients ineligible for Medicare will be charged a fee for all services provided.

Staff

The Cleft Team is also supported by Audiology, Dentistry, and ENT Surgery as representatives of these professional disciplines regularly attend the Cleft Clinic.