Date:
18 April 2024
Page URL:
https://www.sheffieldccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/childrens-surgery-and-anaesthesia.htm?pr=
A partnership between the eight NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in South and Mid Yorkshire, Bassetlaw and North Derbyshire carried out a consultation into children’s surgery and anaesthesia services.
To help us with our review of children’s surgery and anaesthesia services, between January and April 2016, we asked you, patients and the public, what would matter to you if your child needed an operation.
All feedback was used to help develop our options for the future of the below children’s surgery and anaesthesia services:
- Ear nose and throat
- General surgery (for conditions usually of the abdomen/tummy, eg appendicitis)
- Ophthalmology (for any condition of the eye)
- Oral surgery (for any condition of the mouth or teeth)
- Orthopaedics (for any condition of the bones, muscles etc)
- Urology (for any condition of the groin, genitals or bladder)
Our review concluded there were three options.
In all three, children would be taken to the next nearest hospital for the services we’ve outlined - at night, at a weekend or if they needed to stay in hospital overnight.
We consulted on the three options.
The results of the consultation will be presented to the Commissioners Working Together board who will make a decision. They will consider:
- All patient and public feedback
- The impact on access to services, including travel times
- The impact on quality and safety of the service
We expect a decision to be made in April 2017
Dr Tim Moorhead, GP, clinical chair and advisor to Commissioners Working Together:
"For most services, most of the time, nothing will change but for a small number of unplanned operations, at night, at weekends or when children need to stay overnight in hospital, we are proposing they are done differently.Across the region, there is only a small number of children needing operations for the services we’re proposing to change, which means our staff aren’t being used in the best way, which, combined with a national shortage of expert staff who are qualified to operate on children, means that in the future, your child may not have access to the high quality care they need".
Dr Des Breen, consultant anaesthetist and medical director for the Working Together programme, said:
“If we use our services and staff in a different way, we will be able to care for children in a consistent way - whilst maintaining the high standards of care we expect to provide.
“For some people, this may mean you will need to travel further than your local hospital for the services we’re proposing to change but it will also mean your child will receive consistently high quality and safe care in the future - with your child being treated by the right people, in the right place and at the right time.”