Provision of general paediatric surgical services in a regional hospital
O Zgraj1, M Clarke Moloney, C Motherway
1Departments of Surgery and Anaesthesia, Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland.
Background:
In Ireland, specialist paediatric surgery is carried out in paediatric hospitals in Dublin. General surgeons/consultants in other surgical specialities provide paediatric surgical care in regional centres. There has been a failure to train general surgeons with paediatric skills to replace these surgeons upon retirement.
Aim:
To assess paediatric surgical workload in one regional centre to focus the debate regarding the future provision of general paediatric surgery in Ireland.
Methods:
Hospital in-patient enquiry (HIPE) system was used to identify total number of paediatric surgical admissions and procedures. Cases assessed requiring hospital transfer.
Results:
Of 17,478 surgical patients treated, 2,584 (14.8%) were under 14 years. A total of 2,154 procedures were performed.
Conclusion:
Regional centres without dedicated paediatric surgeons deliver care to large numbers of paediatric patients. The demand for care highlights the need for formal paediatric services/appropriate surgical training for general surgical trainees.
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