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Standards For Non-Specialist Emergency Surgical Care of Children

On behalf of the Children's Surgical Forum


When children require emergency surgery, they should receive a high-quality service in their local area.

Services must ensure that, where treatment facilities are not available locally, referral and transfer to other services is managed safely and quickly without jeopardising the patient’s outcome or experience. Clear communication and information, to support patients and their families, is an essential part of the treatment of children.

Given the large geographical and demographic variations around the country, local solutions must be agreed through networks made up of secondary and tertiary services. Alongside these networks, we need better collaboration between specialist and general commissioning for children’s surgical services.

The Royal College of Surgeons has produced these standards to review the quality of care and identify key priorities for improvements that encompass the whole patient pathway.

Download the standards document.


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