Lady Cilento Children's Hospital will be renamed the Queensland Children's Hospital in a move that could cost taxpayers $500,000.

But the son of the late Lady Phyllis Cilento, a medical pioneer and author, Dr David Cilento, said he was "devastated" by the decision to remove his mother's name from the exterior of the leading paediatric hospital.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles formally announced the new name this morning and said changing the signage would make up a bulk of the cost.

Mr Miles said the money would not be drawn from the Queensland Health budget and would instead come from the Department of Housing and Public Works.

Hospital staff recently petitioned the Government calling for a name change, arguing there was confusion in the community over whether the facility was public or private.

The Children's Hospital Foundation also argued a conventional name would secure more money for medical research from overseas philanthropic and charitable donors.

Cilento family accuses Government of 'fake' consultation

The hospital only opened four years ago, and Dr David Cilento said the change was "absolutely destroying" his mother's legacy.

Lady Cilento's son, Dr David Cilento, is unhappy with the move. ( ABC News: Allyson Horn )

"The only reason people have their names ripped off buildings and things like this is usually because they're persons of ill repute or actual criminals — my mother was neither," he said.

"She was a brilliant clinician who brought up a family of six kids.

"She knew and resonated with women, and that's probably one of the most difficult things for the male patriarchy of the time to accept and it seems as though nothing's changed."

The State Government conducted an online survey, and more than half of the 38,000 respondents voted in favour of changing the name to the Queensland Children's Hospital.

But Dr Cilento accused the State Government of conducting "fake community consultation" and said he did not believe the hospital staff petition was real either.

Mr Miles defended the decision to rebrand the hospital, and said the Government was keen to work with the Cilento family on an alternative way to honour Lady Cilento within the precinct.

"This was originally the Queensland Children's Hospital — the previous government changed its name without consulting anyone," Mr Miles said.

"We've been through a decent process here of consulting the staff, consulting the public.

"Queensland Health did market research during this process — we've also gone through that exercise of costing out what the change will be."

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the money would be better spent on helping patients and was an "utter disgrace and shameful" that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk or Mr Miles had not personally called the Cilento family.

"Instead of trying to improve health services for our sickest kids, [Ms Palaszczuk] is more fixated with trying to airbrush a pioneering female doctor from our history," Ms Frecklington wrote on Twitter.