The Surgery in Children (SiC) Network’s remit is broad, so it isn’t possible to include all aspects of the work covered by the SiC Network here. Our annual workplan will focus on specific areas of children’s surgery such as the development of regional best practice guidance (to ensure that the quality and provision of surgery across our network is maintained), to broader aspects such as the monitoring of surgical waiting lists, provision of education and events to support clinicians and managers, and the review and audit of surgical care for children and young people across our network.
Although SiC Networks covers a wide range of specialities, most activity focuses on ENT, Paediatric Surgery (General), Trauma & Orthopaedics, and key supporting services including Anaesthetics, Nursing and Pre‑Assessment. Clinical forums for each speciality bring together Thames Valley and Wessex clinicians to collaborate, share expertise, and contribute to network‑level guidelines and protocols, with each forum chaired by a representative who sits on our Surgery in Children Board.
If you are a clinician working in Thames Valley & Wessex and would like to become a member of one of our Clinical Forums please ‘Contact Us’.
Anaesthetics
Anaesthetists play a vital role in children’s surgical care, providing anaesthesia for operations and procedures, supporting sedation for investigations such as MRI, and contributing to pre‑assessment, pain management, and the care of critically ill children. In 2023, the Wessex Association of Children’s Anaesthetists expanded to include Thames Valley hospitals, forming SCRAPA – the Paediatric Anaesthetic Clinical Forum for the Thames Valley and Wessex SiC Network. SCRAPA hosts twice‑yearly education meetings, an annual revalidation meeting, an autumn scientific meeting, and an annual Clinical Leads Meeting attended by leads from each hospital/Trust.
The current Co-Chairs of SCRAPA are: Dr Samantha Wilson (Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust), Dr Dana Kelly (Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust) and Dr Rosemary Lewis (Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust).
Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT)
ENT Surgery accounts for the majority of elective surgical procedures carried out on children and young people across Thames Valley and Wessex. The Paediatric ENT Clinical Forum is an active group of clinicians who meet on a quarterly basis to share their knowledge and experience and to agree and formalise standards of care across the network.
Members of the Paediatric ENT Clinical Forum are also instrumental in the success of the ‘Make the Airway Safe Team’ training programme which is an initiative developed by ENT colleagues in Wessex to improve the emergency management of children with an upper-airway obstruction. This training is available to clinicians across all Trusts in our Network and has been adopted by other Surgery in Children Networks across the country.
The current chair of the Paediatric ENT Clinical Forum is: Mr Steve Frampton, University Hospitals Dorset.
Nursing
The Surgery in Children Lead Nurse Clinical Forum has an active membership that meets four times a year, including an annual face-to-face meeting hosted by the SiC Network each spring. This forum provides ward sisters, matrons and nurse specialists working in children’s surgery an opportunity to meet with their peers to share their knowledge and expertise with an aim to improve the care and experiences of patients and their families when in hospital.
The current chair of the Surgery in Children Lead Nurse Clinical Forum is: Becky Hepworth, Matron, Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
Paediatric Surgery (General)
The General Paediatric Surgery Clinical Forum is fully inclusive and is open to every surgeon who undertakes general surgery of childhood within the SIC Network. Specialist centres and District General Hospitals are represented equally. Meetings are held online and in-person with the aim of peer support, continual professional development, and the maintaining of uniform clinical pathways and optimal clinical outcomes across the region. Working groups are established from within the group for specific tasks.
The current chair of the General Paediatric Surgery Clinical Forum is vacant.
Pre-Operative Assessment
Pre-operative assessment is essential to ensuring that patients are prepared and fit for a planned operation or procedure, and all children and young people should expect to be pre-assessed prior to the day of their operation or procedure. Pre-operative assessment for adult patients is commonplace, but historically pre-operative assessment for children has been under-recognised and under-resourced. In collaboration with our colleagues in the South West Surgery in Children Network, we champion pre-operative assessment as an integral part of the surgical pathway undertaking bi-annual audits, gather feedback from patients and families through our annual user survey and have a Pre-Operative Assessment Working Group which meets 3-4 times a year, where colleagues share their expertise to improve quality and consistency of pre-operative assessment across our networks.
Through this collaborative working we have developed the Paediatric Pre-Assessment Practitioner course which is aimed at nurses and other registered practitioners who deliver pre-operative assessment to children and young people. Following the success of the course in both our networks, this course has now been rolled out across the country and is being delivered by all 10 Surgery in Children Networks in England.
Trauma and Orthopaedics
The Regional Oxford Southampton Paediatric Orthopaedic Group (ROSPOG) is a long-established group of surgeons, nurse specialists and allied health professionals from across Thames Valley and Wessex which is fully inclusive of all trusts across the network. ROSPOG meet in-person 2-3 times a year to share their experiences, knowledge and expertise to improve the care of children and young people who require both planned and emergency orthopaedic surgery.
The current SiC Network chair for ROSPOG is vacant.
