What Remote Paediatric Specialist Consultation Covers
A paediatrician brings a level of clinical experience and diagnostic depth that isn't available at GP level — and a significant proportion of specialist assessment, management review, and second-opinion consultation can be conducted by video call at consultant level.
What this specialist consultation covers:
- Complete specialist paediatric assessment and clinical formulation
- Review and clarification of existing paediatric diagnoses
- Assessment and management of complex or poorly controlled chronic conditions
- Developmental assessment — including neurodevelopmental concerns, speech and language, motor development, and behavioural presentations
- Second opinion on paediatric diagnoses or management plans
- Coordination of specialist tests — imaging, subspecialty referral, specialist blood tests
- Review of existing test results with specialist paediatric interpretation
- Transition planning — from paediatric to adult services
- Coordination with the family doctor, allied health professionals, and subspecialty services
What requires in-person assessment:
- Physical examination — cardiac auscultation, abdominal assessment, neurological examination, assessment of dysmorphic features
- Acute presentations requiring direct assessment
- Procedures — always require physical attendance
- Emergency presentations — always go to emergency services
Situations Commonly Assessed and Managed
Neurodevelopmental Conditions
- Autism spectrum disorder — specialist assessment, diagnostic review, and management coordination
- ADHD — attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — specialist assessment and management
- Developmental delay — global, speech and language, motor, and cognitive
- Specific learning difficulties — dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia — specialist assessment and coordination
- Intellectual disability — assessment and management coordination
- Tic disorders and Tourette syndrome
- Sensory processing difficulties
Respiratory Conditions
- Complex or poorly controlled asthma — specialist assessment and management optimisation
- Recurrent respiratory infections — specialist assessment and investigation
- Chronic cough — specialist assessment and coordination of investigation
- Wheeze in infants and young children — specialist assessment and management
- Allergic respiratory conditions — rhinitis, asthma — specialist management
Gastrointestinal Conditions
- Gastroesophageal reflux — complex or treatment-resistant presentations
- Coeliac disease — diagnostic review and management
- Inflammatory bowel disease — management support and coordination
- Constipation — complex or treatment-resistant presentations
- Recurrent abdominal pain — specialist assessment and investigation
- Feeding difficulties — specialist assessment in infants and young children
- Faltering growth — specialist assessment and coordination of investigation
Allergic and Immunological Conditions
- Complex food allergy — specialist assessment and management
- History of anaphylaxis — specialist review and management planning
- Eczema — complex or treatment-resistant presentations
- Urticaria — recurrent or chronic presentations
- Immunodeficiency concerns — initial assessment and referral coordination
Endocrine and Metabolic Conditions
- Growth concerns — short stature, tall stature, faltering growth
- Childhood obesity — specialist assessment and management
- Thyroid conditions in children — assessment and management
- Diabetes — Type 1 management review and coordination
- Puberty concerns — early or delayed puberty
Neurological Conditions
- Headaches and migraine in children — specialist assessment and management
- Epilepsy — management review and coordination
- Febrile seizures — specialist assessment and parental guidance
- Neurodevelopmental conditions with neurological comorbidity
- Developmental regression — specialist assessment and investigation
Behavioural and Mental Health
- Anxiety in children and teenagers — specialist assessment
- Depression in children and teenagers — specialist assessment
- Behavioural difficulties — specialist assessment and management coordination
- Sleep disorders in children — specialist assessment and management
- School refusal — specialist assessment and coordination
- Feeding difficulties and disordered eating patterns in teenagers
Neonatal and Infant
- Neonatal concerns after hospital discharge
- Feeding difficulties in infants — breastfeeding and bottle-feeding
- Colic and excessive crying — specialist assessment
- Jaundice concerns beyond the neonatal period
- Growth and weight concerns in infants
Other
- Recurrent infections — specialist assessment and immunological investigation
- Anaemia in children — specialist assessment and investigation
- Paediatric second opinion — independent specialist review of a diagnosis or management plan
- Travel health for children travelling to higher-risk destinations
- Adolescent health — complex presentations in young people
What Your Consultation Includes
Complete Specialist Paediatric Assessment. Your paediatrician carries out a complete specialist assessment — covering your child's current concern, full medical history, developmental history, family history, birth history, vaccination status, growth trajectory, and social context. The assessment is conducted with you present as parent or guardian throughout the consultation.
Specialist Clinical Formulation. Based on the assessment, your paediatrician provides a specialist clinical formulation — explaining what's driving your child's presentation, what further assessment or investigation is needed, and what the management pathway is. This formulation is explained clearly in accessible language and shared with your child's family doctor.
Review of Existing Investigations and Reports. If your child has existing test results, imaging reports, developmental assessments, school reports, or specialist letters, your paediatrician reviews them in full — providing specialist interpretation and incorporating them into the clinical formulation.
Coordination of Specialist Investigation. When further investigations are clinically indicated — including specialist blood tests, imaging, subspecialty referral, or allied health assessment — your paediatrician coordinates these through our Referral and Complementary Tests service.
Specialist Management Plan. Based on the assessment, your paediatrician provides a complete management plan — including clinical recommendations at the specialist's professional discretion, coordination with allied health professionals, and a clear follow-up pathway.
Second Opinion. For parents seeking an independent specialist review of their child's diagnosis or management plan — including opinions received from other paediatricians or in other countries — your paediatrician carries out a complete assessment and provides a clear, independent, evidence-based perspective.
Consent, Confidentiality, and Child Protection
Parental Consent. All paediatric consultations require a parent or guardian to be present throughout the consultation, and their informed consent for the consultation and any clinical recommendations. For separated or divorced parents, the consenting parent or guardian must hold legal parental responsibility.
Adolescent Confidentiality. For adolescent patients — particularly aged 16 and over — your paediatrician balances the adolescent's right to confidentiality with appropriate parental involvement, in line with Portuguese medical and legal standards. When an adolescent patient has concerns they wish to discuss privately, your paediatrician handles this with sensitivity and in line with clinical best practice.
Child Protection. Our paediatricians are bound by Portuguese child protection legislation and their professional obligations. When a consultation raises protection concerns, your paediatrician is legally and professionally obligated to act in accordance with the Law for the Protection of Children and Young People at Risk, which may involve the CPCJ — the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People — responsible for the area of residence. This obligation overrides confidentiality.
Data Protection. All patient information — from both the child and the parent or guardian — is protected under strict data protection standards. Clinical records are kept securely, in line with Portuguese medical record-keeping requirements.
Why Choose Our Care
Paediatricians registered with the Portuguese Medical Association. Our paediatricians are registered with the Paediatrics College of the Portuguese Medical Association — the highest level of paediatric qualification in Portugal. You are speaking with a paediatrician, not a GP with an interest in paediatrics.
Consultant-level diagnostic formulation. A paediatrician brings a level of diagnostic depth, subspecialty knowledge, and clinical formulation that isn't available at GP level. For complex, poorly understood, or treatment-resistant presentations, consultant-level assessment often changes the clinical trajectory.
Same-day and advance appointments. Available seven days a week, including evenings and weekends — because parental concern about a child's health doesn't follow a schedule, and access to specialist paediatric opinion shouldn't require months of waiting.
Second-opinion experience. Our paediatricians regularly provide independent second opinions on paediatric diagnoses and management plans — including ones received from other paediatricians or in other countries. This service is particularly valuable for expat families managing complex paediatric conditions across health systems.
Review of existing investigations. Existing test results, imaging, developmental assessments, and specialist reports are reviewed by a paediatrician — providing the specialist interpretation these investigations require, and often clarifying clinical pictures that were unclear at GP level.
Multilingual. Consultations available in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Czech, and Romanian — removing the language barrier many international families face when seeking specialist paediatric care in Portugal.
Experience with expat and international families. Our paediatricians regularly support expat families managing paediatric conditions across health systems — reviewing diagnoses made abroad, assessing management plans in the Portuguese clinical context, and providing continuity of specialist care for families navigating multiple health systems.
