Waiting Times

Please bear with us while you are waiting for confirmation of your appointment or operation. We’re doing all we can to ensure children and young people get the help they need as quickly as possible.

Some of our waiting times have increased due to measures to stop the spread of Covid, and because our teams have been providing extra support to help other hospitals dealing with the virus. 

We’re seeing patients based on the priority of their needs. If you have not heard from us already, we will be in touch to offer advice and support while you wait for a date to come in.

However, if you are concerned about your child’s health, please don’t hesitate to contact your care team directly. If your child is not yet a patient at Sheffield Children’s, please speak to your GP or referring service.

How we are reducing waiting times

We’re working hard to reduce waiting times for you in a number of ways:

• Running extra theatres and clinics
• Maximising the use of theatres
• Providing extra support for children with the greatest needs and
• Freeing up space within clinics to offer more appointments

You can see the average wait for many medical and surgical departments at the My Planned Care website.

Waiting times for departments which do not appear on My Planned Care are available to see below. 

What do these numbers mean?

• The average waiting time for first outpatient appointment is the average waiting time for your first appointment with a clinician having been referred by your GP. This may be face to face, online or by telephone.
• Average waiting time is the average (mean) of all patients waiting within the specialty.
• Some patients will wait less time than the average and some patients will wait longer than the average waiting time.
• People are being managed based on clinical urgency and therefore waiting times can vary depending on each person’s clinical condition.

Requests to move provider (PIDMAS) at Sheffield Children’s

The Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System (PIDMAS) allows people to sign up to be notified if they could receive treatment and care sooner at a different healthcare provider. Although this system is in operation for adult providers, it is not yet available in children and young people’s healthcare.

Please be aware that signing up to this scheme does not guarantee that you will receive care more quickly. If you do choose to move provider for a certain condition, your whole care for that condition will be moved, including follow up appointments, prescriptions and more.

To find out more about PIDMAS, visit NHS.uk

The waiting list recovery programme

Sheffield Children’s is part of a national alliance of leading children’s hospitals committed to reducing waiting times by sharing experience and adopting new ways of working. More information on this and our Super Saturdays can be found here.