About SiC - North West Children's ODN Hub

About the Surgery in Children ODN

The aim of the Surgery in Children (SiC) Operational Delivery Network (ODN) is to support the development of sustainable, equitable, affordable and high-quality children’s surgical services by bringing together regional commissioners / Integrated Care Boards, service providers and key stakeholders.

The ODN works across providers of children’s surgery including:

Specialised surgery (complex and rare surgery)
Non-specialised surgery (common routine surgery)
Elective (planned surgery)
Non elective surgery (emergency surgery)

The care pathway for each child / young person is specific to their health and social care needs, making management of patient flow across the network (which extends across multiple integrated care boards) an essential component of the SiC ODN model of care. The ODN helps to manage this flow and capacity, ensuring services meet the needs of patients, and staff are competent to manage patients at the appropriate level of care for their needs, as well as working to the same standards of care by all providers across the network.

The ODN works with children’s surgical care providers to ensure that children and young people receive surgical care in the right place, at the right time, as close to home where possible.

Children and young people who require specialised, complex and rare surgery should be cared for in a specialist tertiary hospital (in our region these are Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital). These specialist providers will also provide care for non-specialist procedures where the child or young person has complex health conditions which require specialist surgical, medical or anaesthetic input. Children may be admitted directly to the specialist tertiary hospital or transferred from another hospital where the child / young person has presented/deteriorated.

Children who require less complex procedures including non-specialised surgery will be cared for in all hospitals across the region, with local surgical care pathways being agreed by the ODN for each type of surgery provided.

The ODN supports the implementation and recommendations in the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) National Specialty Reports (add link) (including Paediatric Anaesthesia, General Surgery and Urology. Paediatric Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery, Ear, Nose & Throat). The ODN agrees priorities for local implementation of these reports as part of the annual workplan and in discussions with national and regional commissioners.

The ODN works alongside the key partner networks which includes adult critical care and neonates to agree policies and pathways for the transition of babies and young people across the Networks.

SIC Education

Our Education team provides a wide range of training to support those caring for patients who are undergoing operations within local hospitals.

For more information on how the education team can support you in your local hospital and to view up coming Surgery in Children Study days click the picture above to take you to our education hub. Alternatively email the team at: odneducation@mft.nhs.uk

SIC Self Assessment

The SIC ODN will shortly be conducting SIC self assessments across the region with all paediatric surgery health care providers.

The purpose of the reviews are for the ODN to act as a ‘critical friend’ to review the completed self-assessment, evidence and support action planning to enable providers to meet national standards.

For more information on the self assessment process click the image above.

SIC Guidelines

The ODN work in collaboration with the North West & North Wales Paediatric Transport Service (NWTS) to produce regional clinical guidelines to support Surgery in Children in local hospitals, including both elective & emergency surgery.

For more information click the picture above to take you to our guidelines page.