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Surgical and Endoscopy Community Partnerships Program
The Surgical and Endoscopy Community Partnerships Program (SCP) aims to reduce wait times for paediatric surgical and endoscopy procedures at SickKids and facilitate timely access to high-quality paediatric surgical care for patients and families.
The SCP is co-led by SickKids and Ontario Health Toronto Region, and supported by six community hospital partners across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who work collaboratively with participating SickKids surgical services.
Program outcomes
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the SCP facilitated the transition of 690 paediatric surgical and endoscopy cases to community partner hospitals. Along with other departmental initiatives, the success of this program supported a 10 per cent reduction in the SickKids surgical waitlist.
What families had to say:
“The procedure was done quicker than expected, I thought we were going to wait a very long painful 2-4 years for the surgery. Thanks for the referral.”
“Faster service and very capable doctors and nurses. Doctors care is good. The experience was an eye opener for the family... referral institutions are well equipped with experienced medical professionals who are willing to provide any medical care or assistance.”
87 per cent of families indicated they were satisfied or very satisfied with the Surgical and Endoscopy Community Partnerships Program
84 per cent of families would recommend this program to other patients and families
We will contact you if your child’s case meets criteria for our program. If you would like to be contacted by this program to potentially expedite your child's surgery, please contact your SickKids surgical team to ask about the Surgical and Endoscopy Community Partnerships Program.
Families will be contacted by a community hospital partner within two to four weeks after the SickKids team has sent the surgical referral. During a phone call with the surgical team at the partner hospital, a consultation appointment will be booked to discuss your upcoming procedure. The consultation appointment is a part of the process where the surgical team will meet you and your child, conduct a brief assessment prior to booking a surgery, and help to prepare you and your child for surgery. Following that appointment, the surgical team at the partner hospital will coordinate your new surgery date and provide you with pre-operative details.
In most cases, it will not be a SickKids surgeon completing the procedure at a community hospital partner.
The surgical teams at SickKids collaborate closely with community-based surgeons and hospitals who are skilled in paediatric care and are trusted in taking on these surgical cases.
The average wait time for surgery at a community hospital partner after receiving a referral through this program is approximately three to five months.
Once you have completed your consultation with a partner hospital and your child’s case has been accepted by their team with a plan for care, your case will be removed from the SickKids wait list.
Yes, all of the surgeons we partner with have paediatric surgical experience and complete paediatric surgeries in their own practice.
Yes, many of our partner hospitals include Child Life Specialists in their care planning and the multidisciplinary teams regularly provide paediatric care.
No. Our program aims to identify low-acuity, low-complexity surgical and endoscopy cases that can safely be performed at the community hospital partners sites.
Yes, it is safe for your child to have their surgery at a community hospital partner. The surgical teams at SickKids closely collaborate with community-based surgeons and hospitals who are skilled in paediatric care and are trusted in taking on these surgical cases.
Your child will receive any required follow-up care from the surgical team at the partner hospital.
It is difficult to provide exact estimates; however, most of the surgical departments at SickKids that are participating in this program currently have a one year or longer wait time for surgical booking.
Health care provider FAQs
Who are the community hospital partners participating in this program and what services are included?
- Scarborough Health Network (SHN): Urology, Plastics, Orthopaedics, Opthalmology, Dentistry
- Trillium Health Partners (THP): Urology, Opthalmology
- Michael Garron Hospital (MGH): Urology, Endoscopy
- North York General Hospital (NYGH): Urology
- Humber River Hospital (HRH): Urology, General Surgery
- St. Joseph's Health Centre (SJHC): Plastics, Orthopaedics
Disclaimer: the list of community hospital partners and services is subject to change. For further information, please reach out to surgical.partnerships@sickkids.ca.
What is the process for transferring surgical care to a community hospital partner?
- A Surgical and Endoscopy Community Partnerships Program (SCP) RN Coordinator identifies an eligible case from the existing surgical waitlist at SickKids, or an eligible case is flagged to the SCP team by a health-care provider at SickKids.
- SCP RN Coordinators contact the family to discuss the program and obtain consent for the transfer of care.
- Families can either accept or decline the opportunity for referral.
- If the family agrees to be referred to one of community hospital partners, a referral letter will be sent to the community-based surgeon.
- If the family declines referral to a community hospital partner, they will remain on the SickKids wait list.
- The SCP team monitors and tracks the status of the referral until a plan of care is confirmed at the partner hospital.
SickKids lowers surgery backlog through successful new partnership with nearby hospitals
The Globe and Mail - May 27, 2024
New SickKids Surgeon-in-Chief is successfully tackling the surgical backlog
CBC Metro Morning - June 3, 2024
