Children’s surgery

We provide many types of routine and emergency surgery for children of all ages in the Great North Children’s Hospital at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Our team see children from across the North of England and parts of Scotland.

Children are referred to us by GPs and hospitals from all over the region. We carry out elective (planned) and emergency surgery, offering a 24/7, 365 days a year service to children and their families.

Our services includes:

surgery for cancer
surgery for solid tumours
neonatal surgery
children’s urology surgery
gastro and intestinal surgery
emergency surgery for children with complex problems
keyhole surgery.

We are also a specialist surgical centre for colitis, ileo-anal pouch and laparoscopic surgery.

The surgery process

We know that it can be difficult for families and carers if their child needs to have surgery. That’s why all our staff are specially-trained to make sure that the time you and your child spend in hospital is as comfortable as possible.

Before you come to us, you will see a doctor or nurse in the children’s outpatients department, who will talk about what will happen on the day of the operation. You can also arrange to see the ward before the surgery date if you’d like to do so.

Staying with your child

Parents or carers can stay with their children almost every step of the way.

You can be with your child while our children’s anaesthetist prepares them for surgery and you can also stay with them until they go to the operating theatre.

You can also be there as soon as your child wakes after surgery.

Depending on the type of surgery, in many cases children can be taken free to go home on the same day.

Follow-up

After surgery, you will have a follow-up appointment, probably at the Great North Children’s Hospital. We also hold clinics at Whitehaven, Carlisle and Stockton if these would be more convenient for you.