Paediatric Surgery

General description of the work Consultant Paediatric Surgeons undertake

The Consultant Paediatric Surgeon is a surgeon who deals primarily with operations in children. He/She will usually be based in a Children’s Hospital and will deal with surgical problems that arise in early childhood such as abdominal hernia, acute abdomen, appendicitis, intussusception and volvolus. He may have a special interest in a particular area of paediatric surgery such as neonatal surgery, urology, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery or neurosurgery.

Most common clinical areas / procedures leading to a claim of clinical negligence

This will depend on the particular interest of the Paediatric Surgeon and will usually relate to failure to diagnose a condition, or failure to obtain fully informed consent or will relate to a poor outcome following the operation or procedure.

Sub–Specialities / Alternative and Additional job titles

The Consultant Paediatric Surgeon may be known as a Paediatric Surgeon with a special interest in a variety of sub–specialties or he/she may be know by the title of the sub–speciality e.g. Consultant Paediatric Urologist or Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon or Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon.

Usual Qualifications

The Consultant Paediatric Surgeon will usually be known as Mr rather than Dr and will have FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) after his/her name.

Academic Appointments

The Consultant Paediatric Surgeon may be a Lecturer or Professor in Paediatric Surgery at a Medical School. He/She may be an Examiner for one of the Royal College of Surgeons.