Children’s surgery in Sheffield begins after three month pause

Sheffield Children’s Hospital has continued to do emergency surgery throughout lockdown, but less urgent work had been put on hold.

The bookings team has already started to confirm new bookings and the first surgeries took place this week.

New processes are in place to protect children coming into surgery, including additional cleaning, the use of more protective equipment, social distancing – including in waiting rooms and bed bays – and the testing of every child two or three days before their admission.

The intention is to see a small number of patients initially, and gradually increase over the coming weeks. Patients that need care most urgently are being prioritised.

Dr Jeff Perring, hospital trust medical director, said: “Things will feel quite different for families, as lots of work has taken place to make sure that patients, families and our staff are kept safe.

“We are starting to see our first elective patients this week, and will then be gradually increasing the number we see over the next few weeks.

“We’d like to thank all our families for working with us to manage these changes and for their patience as we put them in place. We would like to reassure them we’re doing everything we can to make it a smooth, pleasant and safe experience.”

The hospital has a range of resources available to help explain the new processes to children and their fam ilies.

A new section of the hospital trust’s website includes videos explaining ways the hospital is keeping families safe and the new surgery processes, a comprehensive FAQ about surgery and materials to show what personal protective equipment staff will be wearing.

Children can even download and print their own cut out PPE dolls.

Families will be asked to isolate for 14 days before their child’s surgery.

This is to help patients avoid catching Covid-19, protect other patients and also avoid any impact on their own surgery and recovery.

The Children’s Hospital Charity has created a special activity pack to help keep children entertained over those 14 days. Patients will also be asked to have a Covid-19 test three days before surgery.

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