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Child surgery crisis revealed



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Published Date: 10 February 2008
By Kate Foster
SCOTLAND is in the grip of an "urgent" shortage of surgeons to carry out operations on children, experts have warned.
One third of doctors carrying out general surgery on children, including appendix and hernia operations as well as the assessment of head injuries, will retire within a decade and will not be replaced.

The problem has already hit the west of Scotland and Fife, where sick children are being sent miles away from their homes to specialist children's hospitals for routine procedures, and doctors predict thousands more families will have to do the same.

Youngsters could also be forced to wait longer for treatment as pressure mounts on children's hospitals.

Patients' groups last night described the situation as "dreadful", warning children could die if they are not seen promptly.

The problems have emerged in a report for the Scottish Government by a group of experts examining children's hospital services.

Dr George Youngson, a consultant paediatric surgeon for NHS Grampian and a member of the group which compiled the report, the National Steering Group for Specialist Children's Services in Scotland, warned that the problem had to be addressed urgently.

Youngson said: "We have got to the tipping point. There are already areas of Scotland where children are not getting treated at their local hospital. Problems already exist and will become significantly more severe within the next five to 10 years."

Conditions affected by the shortages include appendicitis, hernia, assessment of minor head injuries and undescended testes in boys.

There are around 160 general surgeons in Scottish hospitals who perform up to 10,000 emergency and routine operations a year on children suffering from a range of conditions.

However, around 50 of these doctors will retire over the next decade and will not be replaced.

The problem has emerged because of changes in doctors' training that mean new surgeons spend less time gaining a broad range of experience before qualifying as consultants.

Children's general surgery has emerged as the worst hit area of surgery because doctors have chosen to specialise in other areas such as cardiac surgery.

The shortage has already meant some hospitals have closed their doors to children requiring routine and emergency operations, forcing families to travel for treatment.

Children in Fife are now sent to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, while NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed that it is "normal practice" for children with appendicitis turning up at any hospital in the region to be transferred to Yorkhill in Glasgow. This would include those who live closer to district general hospitals such as the Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock, 27 miles away.

Carl Davis, a paediatric surgeon at Yorkhill, last night said: "This problem has been caused by a lack of centralised planning and the fact that no one – health boards, the profession and Government – has so far taken responsibility for it."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it is now considering a report put together by the National Steering Group for Specialist Children's Services in Scotland.


The full article contains 505 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 09 February 2008 7:29 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
  • Related Topics: Health of the NHS
 
1

Charles Linskaill,

.Edinburgh 10/02/2008 01:40:41
Is it not ironic, that a Professional Body that had years of training, are clever People and get paid accordingly, could let their Profession, fall into a state such as this.?
Again the word,,..'Complacency' springs to mind!
A simple word maybe.? a word I would not expect a 10year old, to understand!
But a Professional Body,?
Need I say more,?
2

fife runner,

10/02/2008 07:32:18
Charles it is like any profession. You can not get a teacher of maths to teach english and you cannot force anyone to become what they do not want to be. Each profession has people who train on specifics such as lawyers on conveyancing or specifically knowing traffic law. There are only finite numbers of doctors and we are now only seeing that in practice.

Never mind on another pint we cannot also keep all A&Es open if we do not have enough doctors. Perhaps those who campaign for such and the academics Ms Sturgeon paid will understand no matter how money you fling at the issue, one cannot conjure doctors out of the air
3

,

10/02/2008 11:06:13
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
4

Haggis MacBagpipes,

Central Canada - ex Perth & Glesca' 10/02/2008 13:21:15
I can, faintly, remember that I spent a long time as a very young child in an Edinburgh hospital called,
Fairmilehead Children's Hospital in Corstorphine and in there I was operated on for a deformity to both feet
called 'Clubbed-Feet' (Talipes) and I had five ops on my left foot and four on my right foot making a total spent in that hospital of seven years. Technology wasn't what it is now for children with that affliction.
Dad was in the Black Watch but not at home, Mum had to travel by train over the Forth Railway Bridge to get to Edinburgh to visit me and our home was in Perth.
It was war-time and Mum told me of one instance when crossing the Forth Bridge the train was halted on the bridge then had to back-up into the tunnel as the German planes were trying to bomb the Forth Bridge.
Then when it was decided that the hospital could be hit by bombs we (children) were evacuated to Berwick,
I believe it was the Earl of Home's Residence that he gave to the hospital authorities for sick children to stay in during part of the war. I didn't get very many visits from my Mum during that time, but when she could manage she came down to see me.
I don't understand why it is so difficult now-a-days for families to visit their children in hospitals even if that child is not locally located because in these modern times there are more ways to get from A to B and back than there was back in the days when I was in hospital. My Mum visited me by going from Perth to Edinburgh and back to Perth during the war years(WW-2), also from Perth to Berwick and back to Perth.
Why the big outcry because a child may have to be located, not locally, it sounds like that people have been spoiled and don't want to travel a bit to see their own children and there's no war to hinder them?
That puzzles me.
Cheers,
Haggis MacBagpipes™©
5

,

10/02/2008 13:26:59
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
6

Pictish in StMartins,

Sunny Guernsey 10/02/2008 14:40:22
Now then, Mr Exocet. Do I detect a hint of nicotine on your breath?
Axe to grind, mmm?
7

Neanderthal75,

Rocky Mountains USA 10/02/2008 18:30:42
Hello there,

If the NHS were decentralized, and Great Britain slowly weaned itself OFF of Socialized/Universal Health Programs, there WOULD be more Children's Doctors, because there would be a PROFIT incentive to specialize in that field.

What you folks have now, is a severe limitation on how much doctors can make, and so, doctors choose to specialize in areas that provide them AND THEIR FAMILIES the best financial reward for all that training and effort.

There is NOTHING wrong with that either; any man or woman would/should do the best they can to provide for their families-any responsible person would.

The problem is telling people which have to work in a high stress field, long hours, and GREAT RESPONSIBILITY, which takes a great toll on them and their families through the years.

When they look around, they see that some politicians, lots of professional pundits, state controlled organs which are supposed to work for the people, corporate types, et al, make a LOT more money than do the doctors, and provide for their families better than the doctors can.

Just what kind of reaction do you believe doctors, who are after all quite human, to have, when it comes choosing a specialty? They go where the greater financial reward is to be found, just like any intelligent person.

Dismantle the Socialized/Universal health care system people, and put in its place a system that really works for the majority of people-it can't be any worse that what you've now got.

Cheers from the Rockies
8

Kitti Kat,

PA 10/02/2008 20:45:39
Number 7 said it all. The UK must wean itself off of socialized medicine. Here in the US we have wonderful children's hospitals. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (near where I live) is world reknown and St Jude's in another state is alos well known. No child is turned away and the doctors at both of these hospitals and many other children's hospitals are top notch. Some of us Yanks live in fear that if Hillary is elected she will shove socialized or universal medicine on us. God shelp us!!!
9

Purlie Wilson,

Melbourne 10/02/2008 21:31:49
#4 Indeed Haggis MacBagpipes your post strikes a chord of my childhood in the 1930/40's. My parents traveled from Coatbridge to Mearnskirk Hosp at Newton Mearns for the four years I was incarcerated with bone TB. Twice a week via public transport, for one hour visits and regardless of weather conditions delaying the journey that one hour visit more often than not could be a mere 10 minutes due to inflexible visiting hours.
Never a word of complaint then or ever in my life from my parents. Today while I would never want the circumstances of that period to return, people today are lacking in the fibre of yesteryear people. I fear all too many today have become too self-indulgent.
I am pleased to say that Melbourne's Children's Hospital and parental facilities ranks among the best not only for caring for children but also as a teaching
hospital.
Suffice to say that apart from Governmental support once a year literally thousands of people are out on the streets shaking cans collecting extra money from the populace and the collection runs to millions of dollars every year withoug fail.

Come on Scotland don't let it happen again!

10

celticsnowdrop,

10/02/2008 21:41:09
Complacency' ......this is demonstrated perfectly by most ( not all ) of the staff at INVERCLYDE ROYAL HOSPITAL .
11

WKKB,

17/02/2008 08:45:36
Geeze... what does the Scottish government want? One day they're closing down sick kids and the next they're complaining because there are insufficient numbers of drs who will perform surgery on children. Pay these Drs what they're worth and you'll soon see the numbers rise. WE just don't give them credit enough for protecting our children
12

Moder8,

EDINBURGH 25/02/2008 22:33:41
#1Charles Linskaill. If my memory serves me well, Dr Youngson and other Senior Surgeons have been campaigning for 10 - 15 years to appraise Governments past and present of the impending situation, even before the changes in training accelerated and exacerbated the situation.
Did anyone take any notice? The situation we now find ourselves in speaks for itself.
The "new training" for surgeons in this country probably means that we will have to get Paediatric General Surgeons from overseas to perform the more "routine" surgery.

 

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